Ginny Weasley and the Emerald Green Orbs
by MelGinnylover
Summary: My take on Ginny's Life from the very beginning, her transition from a fun-loving, boisterous and clumsy-around-Harry girl, to an extremely loyal and strong willed redheaded beauty. It is strongly cannon compliant & since it's my first work, my writing may not be that great. But hopefully you will read it before you decide to agree with me...
1. The Redhead we hardly know

**AN: The story would be strongly confined to cannon. But be rest assured that I will certainly throw in a few AU moments. There may be a few inspired quotes or ideas which are borrowed from other fan fictions. Please see it as a mark of my respect towards those works.**

**I also need to thank GOTIMTIM and IRSHGIRL for their help in editing this work. Without their words of encouragement I wouldn't have uploaded this work for I was too scared. So thanks once again.**

**I also need to make a special mention of GinervaMarieChaseEverdeen and ArianaGleek whose editing has made this chapter a much better read than the actual work.**

**DISCLAIMER: I would be a fool to assume that I own any of the characters or the HP world. I would only claim the effort I put into writing this story as my own**

_**Chapter 1: The Redhead we hardly know.**_

BANG!

"Stop it, please!" Molly heaved a sigh as she glanced upwards.

BANG!

"FRED! GEORGE!" she shouted at the top of her voice as the windows in the kitchen of The Burrow rattled in protest.

More noises had her curious. Since she had never actually witnessed her boys offering an apology to anyone besides herself, she decided to check out the reason for the commotion. She put down the pot of stew she was preparing as she made her way up the stairs.

Molly had just reached Ginny's bedroom door when there was another loud BANG from the twin's room. Wondering what her sons were up to, she hurried towards the twins' door and flung the door open, to find George lying on the floor hiding his face from the bat bogeys attacking it, and Fred ducking behind his bed. Ginny, her little redheaded daughter, had somehow managed to steal Charlie's wand and was pointing it at Fred trying to get a clear shot. Charlie stood in one corner, in two minds, trying his best to avoid his younger sister's wrath, but also wanting to help his brother.

"GINNY! What do you think you are doing?" screeched Molly. "How did you get Charlie's wand?"

Ginny didn't seem to hear her. Her face was red, almost scarily fierce. For a moment, Molly was proud of her daughter. Even Arthur had never managed to scare the twins like Ginny did: she was sure that her daughter had taken after her. Molly was about to grin but she managed to pull on a stern face. "Ginny! I am not sure what Fred and George did but you aren't supposed to do magic," she reprimanded.

Again, Ginny didn't answer. She simply stood there glaring at Fred. After a moment she threw the wand at Charlie and ran towards her room.

Fred looked extremely relieved as he came out from behind the bed and said, "Wow! That was scary!" Charlie, who was already snickering, clutched his sides as he rolled about laughing.

"Finite Incantatem," Molly muttered, pointing her wand at George's face, causing the bogey bats to vanish immediately. "What did you do to make Ginny so angry?"

"Nothing mum," Fred answered trying to change the subject. "Could you teach us that spell?"

"I am not going to ask you again," Molly said dangerously. "What did you do to rile her up?" Charlie, who had stopped laughing by now, tried to sneak past his mother, not wanting to face her ire.

"It's nothing mum; George teased her about a certain someone," muttered Fred with a sloppy grin.

"And what exactly did you tease her about?"

George shifted uneasily; Fred seemed overly interested in something behind her back as he muttered "About Ginny being somewhat tomboyish and him having to be you know what to fall for her."

"WHAT?" Molly stood there shocked. How could Fred and George get such ideas? It was no wonder that Ginny was so angry. "If I ever hear any of you say such things again, I will personally make sure that she gets both of you next time," Molly said before she turned towards the door.

She returned to her kitchen, slightly amused at Ginny's infatuation - or rather Hero-worship - of the famous Harry Potter. Her little red haired daughter was very stubborn, boisterous and fiery. She was reminded of her own childhood as she remembered how her own brothers were scared of her. She felt proud as she thought of her daughter, 'Ginevra Molly Weasley'.

A few days later, the tempers were running high among the inhabitants of Burrow, as the Weasleys had to get their four sons on the Hogwarts Express and the twins managed to make matters worse when Molly found them trying to sneak several banned Zonko's joke items into their trunk. After several heated outbursts, the Weasleys somehow managed to make it on time to the station with a few minutes to spare. Percy and Charlie were the first to board the train. Fred and George had to linger a while longer since their mum's customary bone-crushing hug was accompanied with a long list of warnings.

All through the journey, Molly had noticed that Ginny was a little subdued and was not the usual boisterous girl she was. So while returning back to The Burrow in the ministry car Arthur had arranged for them, Molly attempted to cheer her daughter up. "Two more years, Ginny, and before you know it, you will be on your way to Hogwarts yourself!" she said, with a slightly forced cheerfulness.

Ginny didn't answer for many minutes, but after some time she said, "I do want to go to Hogwarts. But..." she stopped for a moment to stare out of the window. "I will miss them."

Molly wondered whether this was the same girl who had scared the daylights out of Fred and George a few days back. She wanted to say something more, but decided not to, as Ginny continued to stare out of the window. She could see tears beginning to collect in her daughter's eyes.

Molly didn't see Ginny the entire day after they returned home from the station. When it was time for dinner, Ginny made her way to the table but she hardly spoke or ate anything and was gone before Molly could finish her meal.

The dinner was a quiet affair, as compared to the usual Weasley standards, and Molly was just contemplating whether or not to talk to Ginny when Arthur spoke up, as though he could read her mind. "Do you want me to speak to Ginny? - she seems upset."

Molly was still lost in thoughts when Arthur said, "I think I will. I have never seen her this upset since Fred and George's first year."

Molly simply nodded as she looked at her youngest son, Ron, who would soon be starting at Hogwarts. Ron, however, seemed completely oblivious to the conversation and was busy stuffing his mouth with a second helping of everything that was on the table.

She then turned her head and looked at her family clock, where the hands showing Charlie, Percy, Fred and George were pointed at school. Bill's hand was pointed to abroad, while the remaining hands pointed at home.

Molly was so lost in her thoughts now that she didn't even notice when her husband got up to leave.

Ginny was in her pyjamas, lying on her bed tucked underneath her covers. She missed her brothers so much that she found she simply couldn't fall asleep, and was lying awake, staring at the ceiling. She was just remembering some of the happy moments she had with her brothers this summer, when there was a knock on the door, followed by her father's voice. "Ginny, can I come in?"

"Come in, dad!"

"Are you ok, Ginny? You seem very upset."

"It's nothing, dad. Don't worry; I'll be alright by tomorrow," Ginny answered, trying, as always, to sound like a grown-up. Arthur knew that his daughter was fiercely independent and hated being treated like a small child, but he simply couldn't help seeing his daughter upset; she was his only daughter after all.

"Okay then. Do you want to hear a story?"

"Dad, I am nine years old. I am not a baby!"Ginny nearly shouted, looking embarrassed.

Arthur patted her knee. "I know you are hardly a baby now, Ginny. But I thought you might enjoy hearing about Harry Potter."

After a moment he added, as an after-thought, "but if you don't want to, I understand."

Arthur smiled for he knew his daughter could never resist any stories regarding Harry Potter. A coy smile had lit up on Ginny's face and her cheeks blushed Weasley red as she said, "Oh! I don't mind, Dad. Who knows, a story might cheer me right up."

Arthur sat down on his daughter's bed, while Ginny got under the covers to listen.

As Arthur told the tale, Ginny dreamed of a handsome young prince wielding his sword, saving the world. He eventually became her knight in shining armour, riding a horse, coming to save her from the house of a million redheads. She loved her family dearly, though it could, at times, be overwhelming. And he wasn't just that. This boy, who she had just heard of, had no family, no mum or dad to call his own, while she had enough to last six lifetimes. Harry Potter had saved the world from evil but it was still the saddest story she had ever heard.

She was lying on the bed staring out of the window at the endless snow as she dreamed on. Had she ever seen Harry Potter without realizing that it was him? Did he have any cousins or friends to fight with like she did? She had so many questions.

"Dad?" Ginny called out suddenly, sleep-talking as she dreamed.

"Yeah?" answered a startled Arthur. He thought Ginny had fallen asleep and was lost in his own thoughts.

"I'm going to marry him someday," Arthur heard his daughter say.

Arthur was silent for a moment, then laughed, "Who? Harry Potter?"

"Mmmhh," Ginny nodded softly.

"Gin, who says you're ever going to meet him?"

"I do," Ginny answered.

Arthur chuckled, amused that his only daughter was crushing on Harry Potter. He knew Ginny would never have said that, had she been fully awake. But he knew that his daughter did have a little something for Harry Potter. It was a little early to say anything but he wondered if such a possibility might ever happen for her. He wanted his children's dreams to come true, though life didn't always work out that way.

He smiled, as he bent down to place a kiss on Ginny's forehead. Ginny had started snoring slightly by the time Arthur made his way out of the room, closing the door behind him.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**AN: Any Suggestions or criticism would be highly appreciated for I wish to improve. Pointless FLAMES would neither help you nor me.**


	2. Fred and George meet their Match

**AN: A million Thanks! for the reviews. I was pleasantly surprised and am still on cloud nine. As a first timer, I never expected to get more than 1 or 2 reviews.**

**As always I would like to thank GOTIMTM and IRSHGIRL whose constant encouragements keep me motivated to write.**

**I also need to make a special mention of my brilliant BETAs GinervaMarieChaseEverdeen and Arianagleek whose editing has made this chapter a much better read than the actual work.**

**DISCLAIMER: I would be a fool to assume that I own any of the characters or the HP world. I would only claim the effort I put into writing this story as my own.**

_**Chapter 2: Fred and George meet their Match.**_

A year had passed and the Weasley kids were all at home, excluding Bill, their eldest son, who was in Egypt working as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts. Mrs. Weasley had prepared a humongous buffet for Charlie as part of his graduation party, for he had completed his education at Hogwarts. The party soon turned as noisy and boisterous as could be expected whenever Fred and George were present at the same table.

Molly, who always suspected that Charlie would never do a desk job, was curious to know what her son would choose as a career. Her curiosity couldn't be reined in further as she asked, "So Charlie, have you had any thoughts about what you would like to do now?"

"Err…" said Charlie, sounding a little scared.

He knew his mother wouldn't easily agree to what he had in mind. Across the table, Fred and George were entertaining Ginny with jokes, while Ron, as usual, was busy stuffing his mouth. His dad seemed lost in thoughts, but he knew his dad better than that. Charlie was pretty sure that his dad was closely following this conversation.

Percy, who even as a kid dreamed of being the Minister of magic, said, "I would suggest taking up a job at the ministry," then put on a smug face as he continued with a hint of sarcasm, "You should probably try the Department for Care of Magical Creatures seeing as you will probably get a NEWT in that."

Fred and George snorted, spraying food all over the table.

"Ew…that's gross," said Ginny with a revolted look on her face.

Molly pulled out her wand and tidied up the mess. Ron looked up for a moment, wondering what all the ruckus was about. He smiled at the annoyed look on Charlie's face before diving into the desserts. Charlie, meanwhile, stuffed his mouth with some bread and drained down a goblet of pumpkin juice as he sought to buy some time.

He was still glaring at his brother, Percy, when Molly, who wasn't easily discouraged from pursuing the topic, asked again, "Charlie, don't try that trick on me. What is it you have on your mind? I would appreciate knowing what career my son wants to pursue."

"Mum, give it a rest. I am just out of Hogwarts. I need time to think over it," Charlie replied. He wanted to put this off as long as possible.

Molly was sure that her son had already decided on some dangerous and risky career. She was about to say so when Arthur said, "Molly, he will tell you when he's ready."

It was a statement and not a suggestion. She looked into her husband's eyes and after a few moments of deliberation, decided to give up. Molly was soon caught up in her thoughts. She missed having Bill around, and now Charlie was about to start working. Like every mother she wanted her children close to her.

Charlie murmured, "Thanks Dad," and escaped from the kitchen on the pretext of being tired, before Molly could corner him again.

The next day, around noon, Molly was taking a midday nap. Charlie, who seemed hell bent on avoiding a confrontation with his mother, had gone to the nearby village of Ottery St. Catchpole. Fred and George were locked up in their room as usual. Occasional loud bangs and explosions could be heard from inside, but the Weasleys by now had trained themselves to ignore any sounds from the twins' room. Ginny Weasley however was unaccounted for: She wasn't in her room and nor was she anywhere within the house.

A few hundred meters away, Ginny was holding Charlie's broom in her hand and peeking through the cover of the trees to see if anyone had noticed her absence. She saw smoke coming out of the twins' window and was sure that they wouldn't be surfacing from their room for a while.

After taking one more peek at the Burrow, she mounted the broomstick and kicked at the ground, soaring up into the air. The cool morning air whipped her face, soothing her nerves. She had seen her brothers fly around in the garden, but being the youngest, and a girl to boot, had its disadvantages. It wasn't as though she was mistreated - in fact it was the opposite. Every Weasley treated her as though she were a delicate work of glass, something that would shatter at the slightest touch. It was pure torture.

Ginny was a natural on the broom. She flew a few feet up, and after making sure that she was still blocked from view, she started flying around slowly in circles. For a while she kept at it trying to get a hang of the broom. She was thrilled as the wind blew on her face, washing away her thoughts. She zoomed in and out of the trees as her confidence in her flying abilities increased. She decided then and there, that it was what she wanted to do when she grew up. She was going to play Quidditch.

After about an hour, Ginny made her way down and started heading back to the shed. Unfortunately for Ginny, the broom was taller than she was and she ended up accidentally dragging it all the way to the broom shed without realizing it. The tail of the broom was completely covered in mud and a few tail twigs were sticking out by the time she reached the shed to put it away.

"Oh crap! Charlie's going to kill me," muttered Ginny as she returned the broom to its place in the broom shed. _Maybe I can just put it off on Fred and George_, she hoped. She then returned to her room.

After a while, Charlie had returned from the village and was soon heard shouting, "FRED! GEORGE! I am going to kill you!" as he came running into the kitchen gripping his broom.

Molly who was up by now and preparing for dinner sighed as she asked, "What did they do now?"

"Look at my broom, Mum. I just polished it yesterday, and now it's a muddy mess!" exclaimed Charlie who looked ready to kill.

Fred and George made their way down the stairs and into the kitchen, looking confused. Ginny followed them down and stood behind them looking equally confused and curious.

"Who took my broom out from the shed?" asked Charlie. It was clear from his face that he would have strangled his brothers if his mother wasn't in the room.

A still confused Fred was the first to answer, "We didn't, did we George?"

"No we didn't, at least not since we heard Charlie had blisters you know where," said George with a wicked grin.

"It's not blisters. He has a rare fungus, George," Fred reprimanded his brother with mock seriousness, the grin on his face, identical to his twin's, betraying him.

Charlie couldn't stand it any longer and dived at the twins. Molly, having expected it earlier, threw herself in between the boys and grabbed Charlie by the shoulders, effectively restraining him.

"How did you know that, Freddy?" George said raising his eyebrows. "No wonder you skipped dinner the other day," he added before turning to the now murderous looking Charlie.

Ginny, who until now was pretending to look innocently curious, started snickering. Ron, on the other hand, stopped reading his comics at the kitchen table and rolled about laughing.

Molly was slightly amused, but she placed her hands on her hips and said, "Now tell me, who did it? Or both of you will end up doing the dishes for the rest of your summer," as she gave the twins a stern look.

"Mum! We didn't do it! We have our own brooms", complained George. "Moreover, who wants nasty big blisters on his rear?"He asked, with the grin still plastered on his face.

Charlie was already red with anger; it now looked as though steam would soon pouring out of his ears.

Ron gulped as Molly turned towards him and questioned, "Did you take it out, Ronald?"

"No mum! I was in my room since morning, I only came down for lunch," said a frightened Ron. Out of all the Weasley kids, Ron was the laziest one and was highly insecure. Molly was pretty sure Ron wouldn't have done anything, but had to ask him to try and placate Charlie.

Ginny was the only other Weasley left in the room. She was sure her mother, or her brothers for that matter, wouldn't suspect her for one moment. But wanting to be sure, she put on an innocent face as she said, "Mum, I saw Fred and George lurking near the broom shed this afternoon, when I opened my window."

Fred and George, who until now had smug grins plastered to their faces, suddenly looked as though they were whacked on their heads with a club as they both turned their heads to stare incredulously at Ginny. Her innocent expression didn't give away anything, and the twins swore silently. They had never managed to hoodwink their mother and were failing to grasp how their baby sister could.

Molly missed this exchange and continued to stare sternly at the twins as she ordered, "Both of you will polish the broom again to your brother's satisfaction and will also de-gnome the garden, first thing tomorrow morning." She then returned to cleaning the kitchen.

A smug looking Charlie turned towards the stairs as he said, "I will go get my broomstick polishing set so that you both can get started. You will polish it until I can see my reflection in it and I don't want to see a single spot of mud on my broom."

Fred and George simply shrugged it off as they continued to stare at their baby sister. Ron had returned to his comics. There was absolutely no doubt in Fred or George's mind as to who the culprit was. As Ginny tried to make her way out of the room, the twins cornered her.

"George, can you think of anyone who only speaks about marrying Harry Potter or playing Quidditch?" Fred asked.

"Not anyone I can think of", said George, pretending to rack his brains for an answer."Wait! There's this redhead I know, but it can't be her."

"Ginny do you know anyone who matches this description?"Fred asked.

Ginny, who hardly seemed to be bothered by the twins, answered sarcastically, "No, I don't." She paused a moment before adding, "But I do know someone who put a certain powder in Charlie's knickers the other day," before elbowing them in their guts to move past them.

A shocked Fred and George stared incredulously at each other. Ron, who was listening in on them by now, couldn't understand the looks on the twins face. But, he decided that from then on he would be very careful around little Ginny Weasley.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**AN: In case you manage to read through it. Please please leave a review. It would help me a lot to know what you didnt like and what I lack in my writing. A****ny constructive criticism or suggestion you have will be of great help.**


	3. Percy the Perfect Prefect

**AN: Thanks! Again for the reviews, I continue to be surprised from the reviews & PMs I have been getting. A review or a PM always makes my day.**

**This chapter has a lot of direct quotes or passages from the actual HP book, with a slightly different POV. I intend to follow every minute detail about Ginny's life and so it was hard to ignore this part. I couldn't make it too fluffy either. A 10 year old Ginny can't be too romantic, at least not in my opinion.**

**It's quite hard to write with the complete Weasley family POV. I have been trying to do that in order to build up Ginny's character from other's POV. Very soon it would be Ginny's POV, which hopefully would make my writing style more bearable.**

**I also need to thank my brilliant BETA GinervaMarieChaseEverdeen who continues to help me.**

**DISCLAIMER: I would be a fool to assume that I own any of the characters or the HP world. I would only claim the effort I put into writing this story as my own.**

_**Chapter 3: Percy the Perfect Prefect.**_

About a month had passed since the Weasley kids had come home from Hogwarts. Charlie had already gone off to Romania for a training program for dragon keepers. It had come as no surprise to Arthur that Charlie didn't even wait for the NEWT results. However, it didn't go down too well with his wife, Molly. After several shouting matches, she had finally resented and let her son go. She wasn't too keen on sending her son so far away from her, but she knew she had to. Charlie wouldn't settle for anything else.

Ginny never was a morning person. She was half asleep and grumpy as she made her way down the stairs. Percy and Ron were already seated at the table as Ginny walked into the kitchen. Percy was reading the daily prophet and as always looked pristine; it was as if he had ironed and dry cleaned his pajamas.

Ron, meanwhile, had a nervous but still excited look on his face as he glanced out the window every few seconds.

"Morning, Mum," muttered Ginny, as she poured herself a cup of tea and joined her brothers at the table.

"Morning, dear," answered Molly "Have you seen Fred and George this morning?"

Ginny was about to reply, when Fred and George entered the kitchen with identical grins plastered on their faces.

"Morning, Mum," they chorused while playfully smacking Ron on his head.

"Did you get the letter from Hogwarts, Ickle Ronniekins?" Fred asked.

"When did they start accepting Squibs at Hogwarts, Fred?" George questioned, with mock curiosity.

"Oh shut up!" Ron said, His speaking ability seemed strained because of his nervousness about receiving his first Hogwarts letter.

Fred started, "Maybe Filch needs…" but was cut off by an excited squeal.

Ginny was hopping up and down as she pointed at something through the kitchen window. Four black specks were clearly visible in the sky, growing larger all the time.

"Those are definitely owls", said Molly moved to stand beside Ron. She patted his shoulder affectionately. "So our Ronnie is finally going to Hogwarts."

Soon, the owls flew in through the windows. They landed in front of the Weasley boys and stuck out their legs. Ron was very excited, and his owl hooted indignantly when his hands shook, forcing the bird to hop uncomfortably on one leg.

Ginny, who was equally excited, even though she wouldn't be attending Hogwarts until next year, looked over Ron's shoulder, trying to read his letter. She couldn't because Ron was tall for his age, but Ron stretched out his hand at last to show her the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Mr. Ron Bilius Weasley, The Burrow. It read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Weasley,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

Ginny started to dream of the day she would be receiving a similar letter. Ron still seemed too stunned to speak.

He was very excited until Molly said, "Ron, Charlie says you can use his wand. He plans to buy a new one and said he will send his old one over to you" the sadness in her voice was hard to miss. Molly loved all her children and wished that she could give them the best of everything, but that just wasn't feasible with their current financial state. She still attempted to give them the best they could afford though.

Ron simply put his head down, all excitement lost. Being the youngest boy meant he had to use all hand-me-downs. He hated being poor. Ginny, being the only girl, got a few things new, or at least second hand.

Then, Percy announced, in a clear attempt to break the gloomy silence that had begun to settle in, "Mum, the Weasley household has a new, and most likely the last, Prefect." He puffed up his chest as he added, "I can't say I am surprised. I sort of expected it."

Molly let out a shriek of joy. "Oh Percy, how wonderful! A prefect! Second in the family!" She pushed past the twins as she flung her arms around Percy. "Wait until your father hears…"

Fred and George made loud retching noises and mimicked vomiting. Ginny was highly amused and laughed out loud, but Molly wasn't as she reprimanded them.

"You two, I have received a hundred complaints in the last two years. Learn something from your brother."

Both the twins looked like they were asked to swallow a whole bag of dung bombs as they chorused, "Are you insane Mum?" Fred snatched the badge from Percy and continued, "I would rather kiss Snape's bum than learn anything from Percy."

"What does this P stand for, anyway?" George asked as he pretended to examine the badge.

"Pig head," answered Fred, "although I cannot rule out Pompous Prat either."

"Oh, shut up," said Percy the prefect.

Ginny, who had always felt that Percy was a bore, giggled as Molly turned to give the twins a stern look. Before Molly could say anything, Fred and George threw the badge at Percy and walked out of the kitchen.

"Mum, I am going to my bedroom. I have to make a list of extra reading material I will need this year", said Percy before turning to leave.

Ron still seemed upset, but Molly couldn't bring herself to say anything. She couldn't think of way to explain that they were poor and that they couldn't afford new things. The children already knew this of course, but they didn't mention it to spare their parents' feelings.

Two days after the arrival of the school owls, Molly had gone shopping in Diagon Alley, leaving the Burrow under Percy's supervision. Fred and George, as usual, were up to no good. They had somehow managed to write 'The Pigheaded Prefect' on Percy's forehead. Ron roared with laughter and fell onto floor after one look at Percy, and Ginny started giggling uncontrollably.

Percy couldn't understand why. So, he asked, "What are you two laughing at?"

He was proudly wearing his prefect badge on his pajamas as though it gave him some extra authority.

Ron continued to laugh, when Fred spoke up, "Judging by the number of times you look at yourself in the mirror, I never expected your makeup to go unnoticed for this long."

Percy immediately ran over to the mirror and checked his reflection. He noticed that something unintelligible was written on his forehead.

He tried to decipher it as the mirror piped up "That's an interesting tattoo, horse-face."

More laughter was heard, as Percy turned a delicate shade of red.

He turned to glare at the twins as he said, "How dare you, I am a prefect. Do you realize that I can put you in detention?"

"Only at school", George said with a grin on his face. "Come to think of it, Fred, does Percy actually think he _can_boss us around at school?"

"Fat chance, not if he wants to keep all his body parts intact," said Fred, an identical grin forming on his face.

"I am not going to show favoritism to anyone, even if they are my own brothers," said Percy as he scrubbed at his forehead, while checking his reflection to see if the insulting message was gone yet.

"Ooh Fred! I am so scared," mocked George.

"Oh no! I wet my pants, Percy the perfect prefect has caught me," said Fred, with fake horror.

The twins continued to grin; Ron and Ginny were still on the floor when they heard a pop of someone apparating into the garden. Soon, Molly was walking into kitchen, and Ron and Ginny ran over to her, eagerly checking to see what their mother had bought. Fred and George followed and started going through the purchases. Percy continued glaring at the twins for a while, before he joined his brothers to search for his items among the parcels.

There was a definite end-of-the-holidays gloom in the air when Ginny got up to see her brothers off to the station. Heavy rain was splattering against the window as she got dressed. She opened the door to her bedroom to see her mother appear at the foot of the stairs, looking distressed.

"Arthur!" she called up the staircase. "Arthur! There's an urgent message from the Ministry!"

Ginny flattened herself against the wall as her dad came clattering past, with his robes on backwards, and hurtled out of sight.

When she entered the kitchen, she saw her father pull up from the fireplace and look apologetically at her mother as he said, "Molly dear, I am sorry but I have to go. Do you think you can manage?"

"Sure Arthur. What was the urgent message about?" It was evident from her face that she was slightly disappointed.

"It's Mad-eye. I can bet that it's another false alarm," said Arthur. "He's been at it for a while now," he said as he pecked Molly on her lips before hurrying from the room.

Ginny couldn't help but dream, a dream involving a certain Harry Potter pecking on her lips as he rushed away on some auror duty. She was brought back to the real world when a fully dressed Arthur swooped down to place a kiss on her forehead.

"Be good! Don't trouble your mum, Gin," said Arthur before he left the kitchen and apparated away.

After a mad rush and a few customary 'Molly yells' directed at the twins, who had made it their aim to cause as much chaos that morning as they could, the Weasley party reached the King's Cross station.

Molly was already annoyed with her husband having to go away. She was tired and just wanted to get to back Burrow for some well-deserved rest. She would miss her kids, though. Her worries added to her physical tiredness as she hurried past muggles muttering irritably, "- packed with Muggles, of course -"

Ginny was looking around. She was always very curious about the way muggles went about in their life without magic.

"Now, what's the platform number?" asked Molly trying to keep Ginny from turning moody, as was her usual custom.

"Nine and three-quarters!" answered Ginny mechanically, "Mom, can't I go ..." Ginny asked as she suddenly realized she would be all alone this year.

"You're not old enough, Ginny. Now please be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."

As Percy moved forwards towards the barrier, Ginny eyes suddenly caught a pair of green eyes staring at her family. They belonged to a small, skinny boy with round glasses and over-sized old clothes. His black hair stuck up at all odd angles. He was pushing a similar trolley and a beautiful snowy owl in a cage.

Ginny was sure that he was no muggle. She felt sorry for the poor state of his clothes, something about him had her thinking; the green eyes were simply mesmerizing. She couldn't take her eyes away from his. However, she lost sight of him as a crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him.

She turned to see her mother order, "Fred, you next."

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said Fred. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred," said Fred as he set off. He looked over his shoulder, calling for George to hurry up, and a second later, they were gone.

Ginny was about to move with her mom when she heard the green eyed boy address her mother, "Excuse me."

"Hello, dear," Molly answered. She hadn't missed the boy who was staring at her family and had assumed that the boy was some muggle born as she asked, "First time at Hogwarts?" She added "Ron's new, too," pointing at Ron.

"Yes," said the boy looking relieved before continuing with a hint of nervousness. "The thing is - the thing is, I don't know how to-"

"How to get onto the platform?" Molly finished kindly as the boy nodded.

"Not to worry," Molly said "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop, and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."

"Er - okay," the boy said, still seemingly nervous, he pushed his trolley around walking towards the barrier and then he leaned forward on his cart as he broke into a heavy run and disappeared behind the barrier.

Ginny was becoming more depressed with every passing minute. She dreaded being alone at the Burrow. She tagged along with her mother as Molly started looking for her sons.

Just as she reached the first empty compartment her mother called out, "Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming, Mom," the twins called back.

Ginny was beginning to feel tears fill her eyes when Molly said, "Ron, you've got something on your nose."

"Mom - geroff," Ron complained as he tried to wriggle free.

"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said Fred.

"Shut up," said Ron.

"Where's Percy?" Molly enquired the twins.

"He's coming now," George answered, just as Percy, came striding into sight.

He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, and Ginny noticed the shining silver Prefect badge on his chest with the letter P on it.

"Can't stay long, Mother," Percy said with a smug look at the twins. "I'm up front; the prefects have got two compartments to themselves -"

"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" said Fred, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."

"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said George seeming to rack his brains. "Once -"

"Or twice -"

"A minute -"

"All summer –"

"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.

"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" asked Fred eying Percy's new robes.

"Because he's a prefect," Molly said fondly admiring Percy in his new uniform. "All right, dear, well, have a good term - send me an owl when you get there."

She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins

"Now, you two - this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've - you've blown up a toilet or -"

"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet," Fred said.

"Great idea though, thanks, Mum." George answered, a half concealed grin forming on his face,

"It's not funny. And look after Ron."

"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us," Fred answered, and he and George headed off to find a compartment.

"Shut up," said Ron again, to the retreating twins, his nose still pink where Molly had rubbed it.

"Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?" Fred whispered with an air of a conspiracy as he and George rushed back over. "You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"

Ginny looked up curiously as she asked, "Who?"

"Harry Potter!" Fred announced.

Ginny was stunned for a moment. She was immediately transported to her land of dreams. She forgot all about her brothers or about missing them. She could only think of one name that floated in and out of her mind. She could see the clear green orbs she had seen only a few minutes ago. She couldn't picture the face clearly; it was hazy because she was too smitten by the eyes to take in the other details of her hero. She wanted to see the boy, who would become her knight in shining armor, once again.

"Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see him, Mum, eh please..." she pleaded with her mother.

"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you ogle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"

"Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there - like lightning." George answered, sounding as though he had just made an important discovery.

"Poor dear - no wonder he was alone, I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform," Molly went on.

"Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?" George asked.

Molly suddenly became very stern as she said, "I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that, on his first day at school," she muttered, concerned for the poor boy.

"All right, keep your hair on," Fred said sounding disappointed

A whistle sounded.

"Hurry up!" Molly said, and the three Weasley kids clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, just as Ginny started to cry.

"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls," George promised and added with a smile "We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."

"George!" Molly said reprimanding him.

"Only joking, Mum"

The train began to move. Ginny was confused. Her little mind was torn between being happy, for having finally met Harry Potter, and at the same time she felt sad that her brothers were leaving her alone at the Burrow. She wished that she was born a year earlier. She could have joined her brothers at school and would have been in Harry Potter's class. She started running trying to keep up with the train, also trying to steal a glance or two at Harry Potter. She fell back half laughing, half crying and waved as the train gathered speed.

Molly meanwhile was looking at her only daughter, trying to discern what was in her daughter's mind. She wondered, was Ginny happy or was she upset. Molly was sure of one thing though, she knew how to placate Ginny. Arthur never hid anything from her - Ginny's sleep talking episode wasn't exactly privy to her. It was almost a year back - she remembered it in clear detail, discussing her future son-in-laws with Arthur. It had been rather fun, she mused.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**AN: Anyone who has managed to read my work, I request you to leave me a review. any constructive criticism or suggestion you have, would help me a lot. It helps me improve… Flames wouldn't be of any help though.**


	4. Trip to Romania with Bill

**AN: Thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews! Every time I see a review, it motivates me to write more. I cannot possibly explain the joy I feel for every review I get, so please do continue to review my work.**

**I have no idea about Romanian food; I have never seen a snowfall either. I simply googled it out and so forgive me if I get the description wrong. **

**In case you are getting bored of Ginny centric chapters, I can assure you that this chapter in a way marks the end of Ginny Character development. I will be starting to work on Ginny-Harry relation from the next chapter. **

**I also need to make a special mention of GinervaMarieChaseEverdeen and Arianagleek who continue to help me in editing my works.**

**DISCLAIMER: I would be a fool to assume that I own any of the characters or the HP world. I would only claim the effort I put into writing this story as my own.**

_**Chapter 4: Trip to Romania with Bill**_

Every day it was the same routine. Ginny always woke up late. By the time she made it to the kitchen, Arthur, her father, would already be gone. Every day she would look through the windows, hoping to see an owl from one of her brothers. It had been nearly three months since she first saw Harry Potter, and she had desperately hoped that one of her brothers would mention him in their letters. So far she was disappointed.

However, that didn't affect her daydreams: she spent most her time reading storybooks and daydreaming about her green eyed knight in shining armour.

Without the other five Weasley kids, even Molly found it hard to keep herself busy, and as a result Ginny was never asked to help. She did, however, notice Ginny's customary glance at the skies every day. Molly already knew what it was about, and it wasn't long before she decided to take matters into her own hands.

Ever since Molly made an announcement that Bill would be coming home with a surprise, Ginny was restless. She hardly slept and was up even before Molly or Arthur woke up.

Ginny would never admit her childlike enthusiasm to see her brother and find out his surprise. So, she passed some time pacing in her bedroom, often going into stupors involving a certain dark haired, green eyed wizard. The morning of Bill's arrival, she went down to the kitchen as the first rays of sunlight flitted into her bedroom. As Ginny walked in, Molly was busy preparing for Bill's arrival.

"Morning, mum," Ginny greeted Molly, excitement etched on every inch of her face, as she accepted the cup of tea Molly offered and sat down at the table.

"Morning, dear," Molly replied smiling, "I have never seen you up this early."

Ginny ignored her mother's statement as she asked, "Mum, did Bill tell you what that big surprise is?"

"No he didn't, I wonder what it is though?" Molly answered. "I hope it's not another new girlfriend," she added, more to herself than to Ginny.

Girlfriend! Girlfriend - it was the trigger word. Ginny's eyes were staring into nothingness again. She was dreaming again. She was holding on to Harry Potter's hand as she introduced him to her open-mouthed brothers. She could see her mother beaming at her, an immensely happy father nodding in her direction. A visibly nervous Harry whispering, "Ginny! Can we leave now?"

"Ginny! Can you hear me?" her imaginary Harry asked - or so she thought.

"GINNY!" Molly yelled, breaking Ginny's trance. She realized then that it had been her mother and not Harry asking if she could hear them.

Molly smiled as a heavily blushing Ginny turned to look at her mother. Extremely embarrassed, Ginny simply sipped on her tea trying to look at anything but Molly.

"It's okay Ginny…" Molly said kindly."I used to be the same when I was your age."

"Mum, please."

"Okay, okay Ginny. It will remain a secret between just us girls." Molly continued to smile as she said "Can you clean the table for me?"

Ginny set about cleaning the table. Suddenly, there was a tap on the window. In all the excitement of Bill's arrival, Ginny hadn't bothered to check the sky for owls.

Two post owls were sitting on the window ledge, waiting to be let in. Ginny immediately went over to the window and opened it. The owls didn't fly in; they simply stuck their legs out to Ginny and flew away as soon as she untied her letters.

"Mum, I have got a letter from Ron, and there's one from Fred and George as well!" Ginny squealed, her joy contagious.

Molly simply smiled as she said, "That's wonderful." Her letters to Ron and the twins weren't a complete waste of parchment after all.

An overjoyed Ginny shouted, "I'm going up to my bedroom, mum. Call me if you need me," before bolting from the kitchen.

A pleased Molly turned back to the kitchen counter, and she continued her preparations.

Ginny closed her bedroom door and bolted it. She walked towards her window and sat down on her desk, _ one of her father's home-made birthday gifts.

Ginny was again confused; she couldn't decide which one to read first. Ron's letter would surely include at least one mention of Harry Potter, since they were both in the same year. But was Harry Potter in Gryffindor with her brothers? Shouldn't Fred and George know him better? Weren't they the ones who had spoken to him earlier? Ginny finally decided, knowing how nervous Ron usually was, that it was more likely that the twins would mention him.

_Dear Gin-Gin,_

_We are sorry we couldn't write to you earlier, little sis … We were too busy being good ... Mum's idea of blowing up the toilet seats was brilliant. It was fun watching some of the Slytherins come out of their toilets covered in …you know, gross stuff...Well, let's just say it was fun. Gin, we still remember that we promised to send you a Hogwarts toilet seat, but since we wish to maintain the beautiful shape of our perfect little bums intact, we cannot. Fred reckons his left bum cheek isn't the same since the unbreakable vow episode …you know what happened._

_There's nothing much going on our end, same old classes, same old Filch threatening to tie us by our ankles … like that's going to ever happen. There's something that might interest you though… a certain green eyed, specky, scrawny git has joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team. We still don't see what you see in him but if you want us to, we can put in a word about you... you know, about how you wish to marry him and have kids and stuff…We wouldn't appreciate mum knowing about this offer though..._

_You see, we get our fair share of attention from mum and wouldn't want any more than we already get._

_Can't wait to see our little sis join us on our weekly detentions - Just kidding!_

_Love from your favourite brothers,_

_Fred& George_

Ginny, who had started reading with a smile on her face, now carried a look of absolute horror. She wouldn't put it past the twins to let slip about her crush to Harry Potter. It would be a disaster - after dying from embarrassment, she would be spending the rest of her life in Azkaban. Double murder always warranted a life-sentence after all.

She still was contemplating the possible ways of murdering the twins as she reached for Ron's letter. It still amazed her as to how anyone could read Ron's handwriting; it was more of an untidy scrawl and was extremely small even for a pair of sharp young eyes.

_Dear Ginny,_

_How are you? Mum says you have been upset that we didn't write to you … she threatened us to write to you and I don't really want her breathing down my throat, so here's your letter. Hogwarts is not what we thought it would be, Gin. The food is amazing and the castle is beautiful, but the classes and homework are pure torture. If it wasn't for Harry, I wouldn't get through half my classes. Yes, Harry Potter- The Boy Who Lived- is my best friend. Can you imagine that? He's not like anything we expected. He's just like me… well he made it onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team and is pretty good on his broom…but really, he's just a normal bloke. He's really great, nothing extraordinary though. Well, you will see when you come to Hogwarts next year._

_Hope to see you soon Ginny, but I guess we will have to wait until the end of term holidays. Bill had sent us an owl a few days back, asking us to stay at Hogwarts this Christmas. He has some trip planned for this Christmas I suppose…Either way, I hope you are doing well and have a happy Christmas._

_Love,_

_Ron_

Ron's revelation had come as no surprise to Ginny; it was a known fact that Ron couldn't keep his mouth shut. It was, however, a big surprise to hear about Harry Potter being her brother's friend... Ron's being poor didn't stop Harry Potter from being a friend to him. This only made her respect towards Harry Potter increase. She wasn't really bothered about Fred and George's comment about him being a specky, scrawny git. Ginny knew her brothers too well to take them seriously.

Both the letters were short, but Ron's letter meant a lot to her. It was proof that Harry Potter didn't care how much money you have. It was a proof that Harry Potter was her brother's friend. She believed that it was the hand of destiny at work; it was fate that made him her brother's friend. It was her destiny to be with him - at least she wished it was.

She had reread her letters at least six times, when there was loud shriek from the kitchen. Ginny paused for a second to stuff her letters into a drawer before sprinting down the stairs.

As she entered the kitchen, she saw her mother bear-hugging a tall redheaded wizard with a ponytail, dressed in combat boots and a dragon skin jacket. It was her eldest brother Bill. He looked up and with a wide smile and said, "Hey,little sis."

Ginny simply said, "Bill!" before running towards her brother.

Bill broke free from his mother's hug, to turn towards Ginny. She jumped on to him; Bill caught her and swirled her around before he tossed her playfully into the air.

Ginny started giggling as Bill caught her and tossed her up again. Molly and Ginny were both transported a few years back as a similar scene played out in their heads. Ginny always loved being tossed in the air as a kid and would keep begging Bill to toss her, while Molly remembered how Bill was the only brother who could placate Ginny when she threw a tantrum. For Bill, Ginny was the same five year old, his little sister.

"So my little sis is all grown up now, ah?"

"Bill, I missed you," Ginny pouted.

"I missed you too, Gin." He smiled as he continued, "I have a surprise for you..."

Bill paused with a cheeky smile. "Mum, we are celebrating this Christmas with Charlie in Romania," Bill announced as he turned to look at his mother.

"Yippee!" Ginny shouted as she hung on to Bill's arm.

"But what about your other brothers?" Molly enquired, a small line of worry forming on her otherwise excited face. She knew they couldn't afford to take the whole family to Romania.

"Mum, I took care of that. They will be staying at Hogwarts this Christmas," he said as he walked towards the kitchen counter.

"I owled them a few days back," he continued as he noticed the worry etched on his mother's face. "Don't worry mum, it's not the first time they are staying back for Christmas."

"It's Ron's first year at Hogwarts though! What if none of his friends are staying?"

Bill poured himself a goblet of pumpkin juice and drained it before asking, "Mum, don't you want to see Charlie?"

A slightly worried Molly nodded as Ginny said, "Ron already knows, mum. He's not going to miss us; he's got Harry Potter as his best friend." It was lame, Ginny knew it. Somehow the euphoria of receiving the letters and Bill's visit had stopped the proper functioning of her brain.

"Yes Mum, Ron told me that Harry is staying for Christmas too," Bill added before turning back to Ginny.

It wasn't always easy to catch Ginny off guard. Her announcement that, being Harry Potter's friend would solve anything, it made Molly smile. Bill turned to a blushing Ginny as he said, "I see, a lot has changed since I left." He smiled.

"Ginny?"

"I need to use the restroom," Ginny muttered as she ran from the room. Bill burst out laughing.

Travelling by Portkey was something Ginny never liked. The sensation of being hooked around the navel always made her sick, and it was no different this time around. She was splayed flat on the ground. Bill was standing beside Ginny with an old broken umbrella in one hand, while he held out his other hand to help Ginny up. Her parents, Molly and Arthur, were already walking towards a gate. Ginny realized that they had materialized in a desolated corner of a park:looking around, there were a lot of snow-covered bushes and trees surrounding them. The Ministry couldn't have picked a better spot; it was surrounded by bushes on three sides and was open towards a dirt path which connected to the main path leading out of the park. Somehow the few muggle stragglers didn't seem to notice the continuous flow of people walking in and out of the alcove.

There was fluffy white snow everywhere and occasionally a breeze of cold air stirred up, causing a shiver to run through Ginny. Ginny held on to Bill's hand as they followed their parents out of the park. They had just reached a commercial looking street, when Arthur slowed down, falling into step with Bill as he asked, "So what's the plan Bill?"

"Dad, I'm hungry, let's eat something first. There's a nice seafood restaurant somewhere around here. I remember it being just around the corner."

"When did you visit Romania for that?" Molly suddenly asked. Her accusing stare was easy to understand for anyone who has known Molly for a while. She was clearly upset that Bill had come this close to home and had gone back to Egypt without visiting her.

"Mum, I was sent here collect something important. It was an official visit. I couldn't have visited you, even if I wanted to," Bill explained.

They were in front a of a posh seafood restaurant. Ginny was amazed; she had never once seen anything like this one. She wondered if they could afford to dine there. Similar thoughts seemed to be troubling her parents, but Bill firmly ushered everyone into the restaurant. She was pleasantly surprised when Bill confirmed his reservation at the counter; it was planned out after all.

They had just taken their seats when another redhead joined them at the table. Ginny was overjoyed to see her second-oldest brother, Charlie, as Molly flung herself at him and exclaimed, "Oh Charlie, look at you! You're the size of a toothpick already! Have you been eating enough?"

"Mum, don't please make a fuss about it…" Charlie muttered as a waiter passed by, "Dragon-keeping training involves a lot of physical training. I'm only thinner - It's not like I'm malnourished."

Time passed with Molly constantly fretting about how Charlie looked, how dangerous dragons were, and other endless motherly worries. Ginny, meanwhile, experimented with a few new dishes: she started with a meatball soup, 'Ciorbă de perişoare'. She then tried 'Saramură' (grilled carp in brine), followed by small skinless grilled sausages called 'mititei'. She soon decided it was one of her favorite dishes. She was full, but it didn't stop her from trying a dessert named 'cozonac'. It was a traditional holiday sweetbread filled with walnuts, poppy seeds and cream cheese.

Bill paid for the meal and soon the Weasleys were window shopping as they strolled through the streets, looking at the various displays. All the shops were decorated for Christmas and there was snow covering all the buildings. It was picture perfect. Ginny was pretty sure that a picture of any of the houses could make a good greetings card. The cold weather didn't dampen her spirits as she looked curiously around. Ginny even puppy-faced her brothers into buying her a painted egg, despite the fact that it wasn't Easter any time soon.

The Weasley family then braved the cold to visit the ruins of the Poenari fortress, the authentic castle of a notorious Vampire named Dracula. It was Ginny who insisted on visiting the castle, although she soon regretted it. The scarcely lit castle had a bad feeling about it. It was abnormally spooky and the unnatural silence, where even their own footsteps failed to make a sound, was starting to scare her. Ginny was too proud to admit her queasiness but Molly, having noticed Ginny's uneasiness, dragged everyone out complaining about being allergic to dust. Ginny silently thanked her mum for having "dust allergies".

Bill's plans of visiting the Carpathian Mountains and the Danube Delta had to be scrapped. The snowfall was getting heavier and it was finally decided that they needed to stop for the day, so they stopped by a wizard pub and used floo powder to get to Charlie's Dragon reserve.

Later in the night, Ginny was cuddled up in front of the fire admiring her purchases from the day's shopping as she asked, "Mum, have you seen Bill or Charlie?"

"They've gone to the reserve, Gin," Molly said,relaxing on a recliner as she rubbed her neck. "Charlie had to check on the dragons and your dad and Bill accompanied him. I don't expect them to back soon, dear," she added when she saw Ginny yawn.

"I'm going to sleep. Goodnight, Mum," Ginny muttered as she got up and walked towards the guest bedroom she was using.

Ginny put on her pyjamas and got ready for bed. Ginny was tired and almost half asleep before she got into the bed, but it didn't stop her from wondering... Would Harry potter receive any gifts for Christmas? Did he have anyone who would send him one? Should _she_ send him one? She still had two days until Christmas, but how would she explain the reason for sending him one? Didhe even know her, really? Had Ron mentioned her? Several more unanswered questions floated around in her head as she drifted off into her sleep.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**AN: Anyone who has managed to read my work until now, please do leave me a review. 26 reviews after nearly 800 views does disappoint me a little. Any constructive criticism or suggestion you have, would help me a lot. It helps me improve… 2 minutes is all it takes… just mention what you feel about my work…so that I can work on those aspects… **


	5. The Redhead turns Redfaced

**AN: Thank you once again to everyone who reviewed! A special thanks to everyone who gave me tips on improving my writing. Please do continue to review my work.**

**As I promised, now on it would be Ginny's point of view. Even more so than what transpires from this chapter. I hope you like this chapter. **

**I also need to make a special mention of GinervaMarieChaseEverdeen and Arianagleek who continue to help me in editing my works.**

**DISCLAIMER: I would be a fool to assume that I own any of the characters or the HP world. I would only claim the effort I put into writing this story as my own.**

_**Chapter 5: The Redhead turns Red-faced**_

It was holidays again; all the school-age Weasley kids were home, and the Burrow was back to its noisy best. Ginny had become more annoying than ever, at least that's what her brothers thought. Ginny's newly rekindled obsession affected Ron the most. He was constantly being harassed for anything and everything about the one and only Mr. Harry Potter. What is he like? Can he do this? Can he do that? What's his favorite color? It seemed endless…

The old radio next to the sink had just announced that "Witching Hour, with the popular singing sorceress, Celestina Warbeck," was coming up next. And Molly was clattering around, cooking breakfast. Every now and then she muttered things like "Stupid muggle car, don't know what he thinks."

Arthur had recently brought home a Ford Anglia of all things to add to his muggle items collection. It was the biggest thing yet. He had told Molly that he intended to take it apart to see how it worked and then put it back together. Unbeknownst to her though, he was actually enchanting it to fly. Arthur loved enchanting muggle things to make it more interesting. He actually considered himself somewhat of an expert on the subject.

Ron and Ginny were seated at the table sipping tea listening to their mum rant about their dad's new car, just Ginny asked, "What's his favorite dish?"

Ron groaned, "Give it a rest, Ginny! I don't know everything about him! It's not like I know what color knickers he wears and stuff!"

"RON!" Ginny shouted, abashedly.

"Actually, _we_ do…" Fred announced walking into the kitchen along with George.

"We thought you might want a pair to collect as a trophy, Ginny," George added. "Its gift wrapped and everything. We were just waiting for your birthday."

"SHUT UP!" Ginny snapped, turning red.

The twins snickered just as Molly caught both their ears and twisted them. "How many times have I told you to keep your ridiculous jokes to yourself?"

"Ouch! Mum, it hurts," the twins complained, rubbing their ears. "We were just pulling Ginny's leg."

"Both of you behave yourselves. Stop behaving like small children. I don't want any more fighting," Molly ordered before returning to the stove.

"Fred, how will Harry feel when he finds out that Ginny refused his knickers?" George asked with a mock concern on his face, continuing from where he stopped as though there weren't any interruptions.

"Poor Harry, he will be heartbroken when he learns Ginny is no longer interested," Fred answered with a fake pout.

"WHAT?" Ginny turned white with horror as she asked, "What did you tell him?"

Fred and George both had identical evil grins on their faces; they turned to look at each other. Ron was snickering silently in the corner; Ginny turned her gaze to look at him instead.

"I don't know what they are talking about…" He said quickly, looking scared. Before Ginny could ask anything else, he stuffed his mouth with a whole sausage refusing to look up at Ginny and instead concentrated on not choking on his sausage.

"WHAT DID YOU TELL HIM?" Ginny asked again, anger etched in every syllable as she spit each word out.

"Remember the letter we sent you, Ginny?" They chorused together raising the eyebrows, before sprinting from the kitchen, laughing, with an enraged Ginny hot in pursuit.

A few days passed, Ginny was up early one morning. It was unusual, but something was troubling her. She couldn't sleep any longer. There were some noises coming from downstairs, but Ginny wasn't really bothered, no one would be, if they knew what the twins were like.

She tried falling back asleep, but she couldn't. The rays of sunlight flickering through her window and the noises downstairs kept her up. Ginny finally decided to go downstairs and had just reached the kitchen when she heard a pleasant voice coming from inside the door. She had heard the voice somewhere before, but she couldn't quite place it.

She walked into the kitchen, curious to see who the visitor was. Sitting at the kitchen table was a raven haired, skinny boy of about Ron's age. The very same boy, she had seen at King's Cross station. The one wizard with whom she had dreamed of spending her life with. It was HARRY POTTER.

Ginny was stunned. She didn't know what to do. A million thoughts exploded in her head…Am I dreaming? Must be… I cannot be awake this early…Should I say hi? Or should I simply smile? Great, just wonderful, she thought sarcastically. I haven't even freshened up yet. I am wearing a nightdress …so much for first impression. .. Wait, the twins are here…Have they told him about me? Soon Ginny's thoughts overwhelmed her. Her face turned red as Harry turned to look at her. She looked into his green emerald eyes, and there was a smile lingering on his face. Ginny tried to say something but the only sound that came out was a small squeal; she was embarrassed. She couldn't take it anymore. She turned and ran back to her bedroom.

"Ginny," she heard Ron explain. "My sister, she's been talking about you all summer."

Ginny wanted to kill Ron. Until now, she wasn't sure if the twins had told Harry about her, but now Ron had put all her doubts to rest. Harry knew about her crush on him.

Back in her bedroom, Ginny couldn't get rid of her thoughts. She had blown her chance to make a lasting first impression. And as if that weren't enough, her idiotic brothers had made sure that she would be eternally embarrassed in front of Harry Potter.

After a little while, Ginny could hear some voices drifting in through her window. It was coming from the garden. She was curious to know what Harry thought of her as she planted herself near her window, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Muggles have garden gnomes, too, you know," she heard Harry tell Ron, as he came into view wearing a delighted look on his face.

"Yeah, I've seen those things they think are gnomes," Ron replied, sounding for once like he knew something that Harry didn't, he bent his head into a peony bush, before adding, "like fat little Santa Clauses with fishing rods . . . ."

Ron proceeded to explain the proper method of de-gnoming the garden, twirling a gnome by its ankles before throwing it a good twenty foot into the air and over the hedge. Ginny could see the look on Harry's face, the change of expressions from shock to that of pure joy was genuine. She couldn't understand why de-gnoming the garden was so interesting or funny to him. For her, it was just a normal occurrence.

Ginny could soon see gnomes flying all around the garden as the boys got into some sort of competition. Ginny silently continued to observe Harry as he competed with her brothers till she heard the boys retire into the kitchen. It was lunch time, Ginny had skipped her breakfast, she was very hungry and her stomach rumbled its displeasure, but she couldn't stand the embarrassment of having to face Harry so soon again. She didn't know what to do.

Ginny decided to wait until they were done eating. There was a sound of footsteps as her brothers made their way up the stairs. Ginny, who was near her bedroom door at the time, trying to listen in on the conversations, wasn't quick enough. The moment she saw Harry, she was frozen. She stared at Harry for a while before she realized what she was doing and closed the door with a bang.

"Ginny," she again heard her idiot of a brother explain. "You don't know how weird it is for her to be this shy. She never shuts up normally -"

Ginny was itching to lay her hands on his throat, but Ron hardly seemed to leave Harry's side, and she could hardly move in his presence, let alone murder someone. That would also be the last impression she wanted Harry to have of her.

Ginny felt too embarrassed to come out in the open now and resorted to hiding in her room for the rest of the day. She was no longer just redheaded, now she was red-faced as well. She tried avoiding Harry whenever possible. Her metamorphosis was too much of give- away. The few times, she came face to face with him. She embarrassed herself, her speech ability vanished, her legs got wobbly, and she was extremely prone to knocking things over whenever she saw him.

A week passed in a similar fashion. Ginny still hadn't managed to utter a word in Harry's presence. She had started waking up early in an attempt to avoid Harry at the breakfast table; a huge part of her heart conflicted with this idea though. She actually wanted to see Harry, but was worried that she would embarrass herself further.

It was a sunny morning; Ginny was at the kitchen table along with her parents. She was reliving a dream she had the previous night, as she toyed with the bowl of porridge in front of her. She was just staring absent-mindedly at the door, when Harry walked in with Ron. Startled, she accidently knocked her porridge bowl to the floor, much to her embarrassment it clattered loudly, turning every head in her direction. Ginny did the only thing she could think off, she dived under the table and waited for the conversations to start. When it didn't, she slowly straightened with the now empty bowl in her hands; her face was a deep shade of magenta and could easily pass as a beet-root stump. For Harry's credit, he tried to ignore the incident. Ginny was highly grateful for that, the amused look on her parents faces and the ashamed look on Ron's face didn't help though.

"Letters from school," her father announced, passing Harry and Ron identical envelopes of yellowish parchment, addressed in green ink.

"Dumbledore already knows you're here, Harry - doesn't miss a trick, that man. You two've got them, too," he added, as Fred and George ambled in, still in their pajamas.

"And here Ginny, Your first ever Hogwarts letter," Arthur said proudly, as he handed a similar yellowish parchment to Ginny.

Ginny had all but forgotten that she would be receiving her first Hogwarts letter. She was excited but Harry's presence at the table made it hard for her to express it.

Ron and Harry busied themselves with their letters. The twins scanned through their own letters before striking up a conversation with her parents about something being costly.

Ginny opened her letter, eyeing Harry out of one corner of her eye. She hardly heard what her brothers were saying as she turned her attention towards her letter... It was a yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Miss Ginerva Molly Weasley, The Burrow. It read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Weasley,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

For a few minutes there was silence as they all read their letters. Ginny's informed her to catch the Hogwarts Express from King's Cross station on September first. There was also a list of the books and provisions she'd need for the coming year.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart

Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart

Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart

Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart

Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emetic Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

OTHER EQUIPMENT

wand

cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) set

glass or crystal phials

telescope set

brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED

THEIR OWN

BROOMSTICKS

"Well, we'll manage," Molly replied as Ginny looked up, she noticed that her mother looked worried. "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things secondhand," she told the twins.

It didn't upset her. Ginny was never really bothered about being poor; she wouldn't mind something new for a change. But unlike Ron, she never let being poor to get to her. She was convinced by now, that her being poor wouldn't make a difference to Harry, if he decides to notice her at all.

She had just fallen into another stupor involving Harry, when she heard Harry ask, "Oh, are you starting at Hogwarts this year?"

She couldn't answer again. Her voice caught in the throat as she attempted to reply, she nodded, blushing to the roots of her flaming hair. Ginny suddenly felt something mushy under elbow and looked down to see her elbow in the butter dish. Her face colored further, thankfully Percy walked in at the precise moment diverting everyone's attention.

Ginny was too embarrassed and lost in her thoughts to hear any of the conversations that were going on. She simply concentrated on finishing her breakfast and leaving the room.

She barely registered Ron mentioning Hermione's letter or the boys planning to play Quidditch.

The following Wednesday, Ginny was woken up early by her mother, Molly. They were to go shopping at Diagon Alley. She was still sleepy as she went downstairs to collect her laundry. She picked up her clothes and had just turned when she saw Harry walk in along with her brothers.

Her usual blushing mechanism kicked in, but for some reason, Harry was staring at the clothes she held and so was Ron. The red was soon creeping up onto every inch of her face. Her sleepy brain was trying hard to control the blushing when she heard Fred ask, "Is that yours?"

"That's not mine…must be his" George answered, pointing at Ron, "Ron?"

"It's not mine", Ron muttered sounding embarrassed.

An evil grin lit up on Fred's face as he realized something, he turned to look at Ginny as he said, "Well, well, well…caught in the act, aren't you?"

"Our little Ginny-kins…Who would have thought?" George added with a similar grin, as he caught on, "I remember someone trying to hex us for merely mentioning this not long ago."

Ginny couldn't understand what they were saying… neither could she explain the red creeping up on Harry's face as he continued to stare at her hands. She followed his gaze and looked down at her hands. Resting on top her clothes was a pair of boy's underwear. She looked up to see Harry, who was by now a deep shade of red himself. Ginny didn't think twice, she put the clothes down and ran from the room, hiding her face. She nearly knocked Fred over as she elbowed him trying to get past him.

Ginny remained in her bedroom and didn't come down for breakfast, complaining that a full stomach would make her sick, while travelling by floo powder.

Later, when everyone got ready to leave, she walked down and hid behind her mother's back as Molly ushered her sons to the fireplace. She was so intent on hiding herself from Harry's view, she never heard anything, her brothers or her parents were saying. The only thing that her brain registered was the fact that Harry had never travelled by floo until now and the fact that Harry's cousin hated him. Subconsciously, Ginny was so attuned to Harry that her brain logged everything concerning him without her conscious effort.

She continued to hide behind her mother until she heard Harry's stammer, "D-Dia-gon Alley." She came out from behind her mother, just as Harry disappeared in to the middle of a green flame.

Even though she saw Harry just for second, before he disappeared, she couldn't help but wonder at how beautiful he looked… Green glassy eyes…Untidy jet-black hair…with high green flames surrounding his body…that was a sight to behold, at least for her.

**END OF CHAPTER **

**AN: Anyone who has managed to read my work until now, please do leave me a review. Any constructive criticism or suggestion you have, would help me a lot… 2 minutes is all it takes and your reviews would mean a world to me… just mention what you feel about my work…If there's anything that needs to be worked on…Mention it, so that I can work on those aspects…**


	6. The Malfoys in Diagon Alley

**AN: A million thanks to everyone! I am grateful to everyone, who gave tips on improving my writing. Please do continue to review my work;**

**This chapter has many scenes taken directly from the book. But as I mentioned earlier, I don't want to miss out on any of the scenes involving Ginny and so I couldn't exclude these parts.**

**I have no intentions to market my work, so anyone who feels that i borrow too many scenes or dialogues directly from the book. Please note that i intend no disrespect or infringement on the works of J.K. Rowling.**

**I also need to make a special mention of GinervaMarieChaseEverdeen who helped me edit this chapter. She always makes it a 100 times better.**

**B/N: Hey everyone. It's me, GinervaMarieChaseEverdeen. I hope you are enjoying Mel's story as much as I am. Sorry this chapter took so long to edit, school is hectic and my editing (and writing for that matter) time has decreased. Anyway, enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I would be a fool to assume that I own any of the characters or the HP world. I would only claim the effort I put into writing this story as my own.**

_Chapter 6: The Malfoys in Diagon Alley._

Tom, the old landlord, looked up as the fire in his fireplace suddenly turned a greenish hue. Though it wasn't an unusual occurrence at his inn, he couldn't help it. It was an old habit which refused to die. You Know Who and his followers were long gone, but the fear and chaos they caused had left a lasting mark on all their lives.

Fred and George were rubbing the soot off their robes, when Ron came whizzing out of the fireplace and fell face forwards on to the rug. He was covered in soot; even after years of travelling by floo powder, Ron had yet to master a proper arrival. Dizzy from travel, he gingerly got to his feet and took one look at his brothers before exclaiming, "Where's Harry?"

"Wasn't he coming with you?" said George.

"NO!" A worried look came onto Ron's face as he said, "He went before me."

"Let's wait for Mum and Dad," said Fred. It was highly uncharacteristic of him to ever wait for his mother's instructions, but the severity of the moment called for some responsible behavior. He continued, "Mum's going to flip, for sure."

The conversation was broken as Arthur came spinning into view and gracefully climbed out of the fireplace, brushing soot from his robes "So boys- " he trailed off as he noticed Harry's absence. "Where's Harry?"

George opened his mouth to answer but was cut off as Percy arrived next. He was soon followed by their mother and then Ginny. She seemed distracted and was busy brushing soot off Ginny with a large clothing brush. "How many times must I remind you to keep your elbows tucked in." she reprimanded, "You could have been seriously hurt." The Weasley boys looked at each other, they knew what was coming.

"So are we ready to go yet?" Molly looked up finally. The look on the boy's face said it all, "What's wrong?"

By now, several people were turning to look at the commotion. Tom the landlord walked up to them. "Is everything alright there Weasley?" he asked Arthur.

"Everything's okay Tom! We are just leaving", Arthur answered. "School shopping is always a nightmare…" he added not wanting to draw attention.

Tom turned and walked over to attend to an old Wizard who had just entered the pub; Molly looked at her husband and then turned to look at her sons. She suddenly realized that Harry was missing, "Where's…"Arthur placed a hand over her mouth gently stifling her next words, "Har-rumph-y? "

"Not here, Molly", said Arthur. "Don't worry…We will find him…he must have overshot the grate…He shouldn't be far… come on," he said, taking her hand and leading her out of the Leaky Cauldron.

Ginny was listening in; she had nearly strained her neck at the mention of Harry's name. Until then Ginny had refused to look up, not wanting to face Harry, and she had hardly heard anything her mother told her. The image of Harry with green flames in the backdrop was still playing in her mind. The only thing that stopped her from falling into another daydream was a sharp shooting pain in her right elbow.

Nobody noticed the worried look that had come on Ginny's face as they hurried into small garden behind the pub. "Where do you think he's come out?" Molly voiced Ginny's unasked question. "I shouldn't have said that earlier."

"Shouldn't have said what?" Arthur asked.

Molly didn't seem to hear Arthur, "I knew it, something was wrong, I had felt it-" She continued looking almost as though she had lost her mind, "I shouldn't have left him go alone. What will I explain to his uncle and aunt?"

Ginny looked at her father, she could see that he wanted to say something. But he held back his opinion and continued to scan the crowd for a sign of Harry.

Ginny was dragged along, as her parents poked their heads into several stores, checking to see if Harry had come out of any of their grates. They had just come out of the fifth store when Fred pointed at someone and exclaimed, "There he is, he's with Hagrid."

Arthur, Percy, Fred, George and Ron immediately rushed towards Hagrid. Molly had just walked into a store looking for Harry. She came out; she could see her family a little far off talking to Hagrid. On closer inspection she saw Harry and a bushy haired girl, whom she assumed to be Hermione. Ron, her youngest son wasn't too secretive after all… He had been telling her about Harry and especially Hermione all summer.

"Thank God! They found him!" she exclaimed.

Ginny was relieved. Being rather short for her age, she couldn't see Harry but Hagrid was clearly visible towering over the other heads. The crowd around him hardly seemed to reach his waist height and the passersby gave him a wide berth. She held on to her mother's hand as Molly rushed towards the gathering.

Gasping for breath Molly pulled a large clothing brush out of her bag and began dusting the soot off Harry. Meanwhile Arthur took Harry's glasses, gave them a tap with his wand, the broken glasses mended itself, making it good as new.

"Well, gotta be off," said Hagrid, who was having his hand wrung by her mother

"Knockturn Alley! If you hadn't found him, Hagrid!"

"See yer at Hogwarts!" And he strode away.

Ginny was back to her business of hiding from Harry but she didn't miss him telling Ron, "Guess who I saw in Borgin and Burkes."

Harry continued as they climbed the Gringotts steps. "Malfoy and his father."

"Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" her father asked sharply from behind them.

"No, he was selling –"

"So he's worried," said Arthur with a smug grin. "Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something ..."

"You be careful, Arthur," said Molly sharply as they were bowed into the bank by a goblin at the door. "That family's trouble. Don't go biting off more than you can chew"

"So you don't think I'm a match for Lucius Malfoy?" said Arthur indignantly, but he was distracted almost at once by the sight of a pair of muggles whom Ginny assumed to Hermione's parents. They were standing nervously at the counter that ran all along the great marble hall, waiting for Hermione to introduce them.

"But you're Muggles!" said Arthur delightedly. "We must have a drink! What's that you've got there? Oh, you're changing Muggle money. Molly, look!" He pointed excitedly at the ten pound notes in Mr. Granger's hand.

Ginny lost track of the conversation as she stared at a scary looking Goblin. She was always a little scared of Goblins, this particular goblin had a swarthy, clever face and a pointed white beard but the thing that caught her attention, was a nasty scar running along the side of his face. Its tiny coal black eyes were fixed on her. She tried to hide behind her mother but she couldn't take her eyes of his scar.

The goblin wove its fingers together and regarded Ginny; the long fingers with long claw like nails didn't help Ginny's nerves at all. He continued to stare at Ginny over his crossed fingers. She felt a shiver run down her spine as the goblin turned his head to look at Harry, who was busy talking to Hermione.

Little did Ginny know that it was the same goblin, who had assisted a muggle-born girl named Lily and who led the Potters to their vault many years ago.

The Weasleys and Harry were led off to their underground vaults by another Gringotts goblin. While the Grangers remained behind, promising to wait near the entrance.

The vaults were reached by means of small, goblin-driven carts that sped along miniature train tracks through the bank's underground tunnels. Ginny enjoyed the breakneck journey down to their family vault, she always felt as though she was riding a broom through an underground tunnel. She actually had always wanted to give it a try…

As they reached their vault, Molly stepped out and allowed the goblin to open the vault for her. There was a very small pile of silver Sickles inside, and just one gold Galleon. Molly swept the whole lot into her bag.

Ginny wasn't really concerned until she saw Harry's vault and was quite shocked. As the goblin unlocked the vault, a lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Ginny gasped. Inside were mounds of Galleons. Columns of Silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts. She could see that Harry was trying to block the contents from view as he hastily shoved a few handfuls of coins into his leather bag. She was again touched by Harry's humility.

Back outside on the marble steps, they all separated. Percy muttered something about needing a new quill. Fred and George had spotted their friend from Hogwarts, Lee Jordan. Ginny and her mother had planned to start at the secondhand robe shop. Her father, Arthur insisted on taking the Grangers off to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were going off to explore.

"We'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy your schoolbooks," Molly ordered, setting off with Ginny. "And not one step down Knockturn Alley!" she shouted at the twins' retreating backs.

Soon Ginny was led into a old shabby store with sign announcing 'Used robes at affordable prices.' The store in itself projected an image of an old antiques shop. A young beautiful witch walked up to Molly, and introduced herself as Mrs. Cooper, as they entered the shop.

Mrs. Cooper was a young and alarmingly beautiful witch. If it wasn't for her robes and unkempt look, she could have easily passed as a Gladrag's model. It left Ginny wondering if Mrs. Cooper had simply picked her own robe from among the racks, her clothes were worse from wear and torn at several places.

Mrs. Cooper stood Ginny on a stool and slipped a slightly faded robe over her head, she began to pin it to the right length and made several adjustments with her wand, constantly checking with Molly to see if she was satisfied with the alterations.

Very soon, they were walking out of the shop. Molly's handbag was considerably fuller. She had shrunk the packages and had stuffed them into her bag.

They went to the Apothecary next. Ginny didn't have much to buy; she would be using her brother's potion kit. She already had Bill's old scales and Charlie's old collapsible telescope. She just had to buy a new cauldron and Ginny felt her own presence was not necessary.

The foul smell of bad eggs and rotten cabbages that wafted from the potion ingredients always made her sick. She offered to stay outside as her mother went in to replenish her stocks. Ginny badly wanted to have a look at the new Nimbus 2001 racing broom, which was rumored to be displayed at Quality Quidditch Supplies. Her promise to her mother wasn't the only thing holding her back though. The prospect of buying her own new wand was too good, and she couldn't jeopardize it for anything.

"So Ginny, that's everything," said Molly, walking out from the Apothecary holding a new cauldron. "Ah…Yes…your wand…I haven't forgotten Ginny," she added as she studied the frown on Ginny's face.

Ollivander's shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.

A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for an old man who was seated behind the counter, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop. Ginny felt strange, the place was unnaturally quiet; she gulped and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, she felt the back of her neck prickle. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic. It was exactly like her brother Bill had described.

"Good afternoon," the old wizard greeted. Ginny jumped but Molly seemed unfazed, there was a line of worry on her face as she clutched on to her handbag. Ginny had seen this expression many a times. It was the same look that came upon her face, every time she was forced to spend money.

Molly smiled encouragingly at Ginny as she returned his greetings.

"Hello," said Ginny looking at her mother, trying to avoid looking into the old man's eyes.

"Ah another Weasley," said the man. "So….She must be your youngest." It wasn't a question, and his eyes never left Ginny.

"She looks a lot like you. It seems only yesterday like you were here, buying your first wand. Eight and a half inches long, springy, made of ash. Good for charm work if I recall correctly, which I normally do."

Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Ginny. He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket.

"It's really the wand that chooses the witch or wizard, of course." He continued, still addressing Molly, continuing to look at Ginny.

Molly smiled. She nodded, "It is, yes."

"Good wand, that one, sad that it only gets used for household magic," said Mr. Ollivander sounding disappointed.

Molly looked affronted, she was about to retort but was cut short.

"Well, Ms. Weasley", said Mr. Ollivander "Which is your wand arm?"

"I'm right-handed," said Ginny, turning red.

"Hold out your arm." He measured Ginny from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round her waist.

As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Ms. Weasley. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

Ginny wondered if Mr. Ollivander rehearsed this speech in his free time. She had learned from her elder brothers about this speech and was expecting it. She vaguely remembered Fred's and George's first visit. They had somehow filled up the room with some sort of gas which made everyone laugh uncontrollably until Mr. Ollivander decided to clear it up.

She suddenly realized that the tape measure was measuring on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.

"That should be enough," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor.

"Let's start then, Ms. Weasley. Try this one, Rosewood and phoenix feather. Eleven inches, nice and swishy. just take it and give it a wave."

Ginny took the wand, hands shivering and waved it around a bit, nothing happened. Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of her hand and handed her another one.

"Hornbeam and unicorn hair. Eight and a half inches. Quite whippy." Ginny had just raised her wand to wave it, but it too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.

"No, no -here, ebony and dragon heart string, twelve and a half inches, quite rigid but powerful. Go on, try it out."

Ginny kept at it for what seemed like a whole day, waving every wand that was given to her, nothing much happened, unless you counted a few broken vases. Ginny was still waiting, waiting for that peculiar feeling to pass through her finger. It was the best explanation she had wheedled out of Percy. Fred and George had just insisted that there would be a burning pain in her fingers on finding the right one. Ginny found herself believing Percy's explanation more.

The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher, but this oddly seemed to lift Mr. Ollivander's spirits as he continued pulling down boxes from the shelves.

"You are turning out like young Mr. Harry Potter. I nearly pulled down every wand in the store before I could find him one." Ginny's spirits lifted at the mention of Harry's name. Some silly worries had started taking root in her mind. What if she couldn't find a wand? A lot of what ifs exploded in her mind.

"Not to worry, we'll find you a perfect match here somewhere – Try this one" handing her another long box as he climbed the ladder to reach some of the higher boxes.

Ginny took the wand in her. The moment she touched the wand, she felt it; a small shiver ran through her fingertips. She raised the wand and gave it a simple wave; almost immediately emerald green fluorescent bubbles erupted from the tip of the wand and floated around in the tiny room.

Ginny looked up to see her mother smiling broadly, Mr. Ollivander came down the ladder as he said, "Oh, bravo! Well Ms. Weasley looks like you finally found your wand...or should I say your wand found you"

He took the wand from Ginny and placed it back into its box, wrapping it in brown paper, He looked up at Ginny, "Powerful wand…you have got there …Ten and three quarters…hawthorn and dragon heartstring." He handed the box to Ginny. "What's odd is the effect, I remember every wand I've ever sold, every reaction the wand gives on its first contact with its master." He continued as though reliving a memory, "I have seen only one other person create such bubbles, and she now captains of Holyhead Harpies."

Ginny started wondering as she walked towards Flourish and Blotts, Was Mr. Ollivander simply making up stories. Was he somehow reading their minds and saying things that would make his customers happy, things they wanted to hear?

It had been almost an hour since they had parted ways when they started walking towards Flourish and Blotts; Ginny saw that there was a large crowd at the doors, trying to get in. She noticed a large banner stretched across the upper windows: GILDEROY LOCKHART will be signing copies of his autobiography _MAGICAL ME_ today 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm.

Molly suddenly lightened up, "Ginny dear, we will get to meet Gilderoy Lockhart in person." Ginny always knew that Molly was a huge fan of Lockhart, most women and girls her age were. She didn't like him though. Ginny always felt that Lockhart had a rather idiotic smile.

Molly dragged Ginny along with her as she pushed her way through to her husband, who was standing with the rest of Weasley kids and the Granger family.

Ginny could hardly see anything because she was too short. She heard her mother exclaim, "There you are, good!" as Harry, Hermione and Ron came into view.

There was collective gasp in the crowd; several blinding flashes of light announced the arrival of Lockhart. Ginny couldn't see the real Lockhart, but as she turned around she saw several pictures of him, flashing toothy, idiotic smiles at her. Disgusted she tried to distract herself with the puffs of purple smoke emitted by the large black camera.

A short, irritable looking man was dancing around taking photographs, and with each blinding flash a cloud of smoke rose from it and disappeared into air. The buzz around her was slowly growing silent as she zoned out. She was starting to day dream again. It was her marriage, Harry Potter was in a dark green dress robe and she was in a beautiful snowy white dress robes. They were posing for the camera. The photographer wanted a close up, One in which they had to kiss…She was about to when someone bumped into her…

Coming about, she saw that Harry was nowhere near her family now. She was about to ask Ron when she heard someone announce, "When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography -which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge-" The crowd applauded again. "He had no idea," Ginny could only assume it was Lockhart as he continued, "that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

The crowd cheered and clapped again. Harry for some reason made a beeline for her.

"You have these," Harry mumbled, tipping the books into her cauldron. "I'll buy my own -".

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" said a drawling voice, behind Harry. A blond boy with a pale, pointed face was sneering at Harry.

"Famous Harry Potter," said the boy. "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."

Ginny couldn't stand Harry being sneered at as she said, "Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" It was the first time she had spoken in front of Harry. She glared at the boy.

The boy remained unfazed as he said, "Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!"

Girlfriend! Why did he have to say that now? As if it wasn't hard enough hiding her admiration for him. Ginny thought sarcastically, turning scarlet. Ron and Hermione fought their way over, both clutching stacks of Lockhart's books.

"Oh, it's you," said Ron, looking at the boy as if he were a particularly foul smelling dung bomb. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"

"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," the boy retorted. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those."

Ginny could feel her face heating up. She was itching to grab her new wand and have a go at the boy. Ron went as red as Ginny. He dropped his books into the cauldron, too, and started toward the boy, but Harry and Hermione grabbed the back of his jacket.

"Ron!" said Arthur, struggling over with Fred and George.

"What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."

"Well, well, well - Arthur Weasley."

A tall man with long blond hair, turned to face the group. It was clear from their similarities that it was the boy's father. He stood with his hand on the boy's shoulder, sneering in just the same way.

"Lucius," said Arthur, nodding coldly. Ah, so this was Lucius Malfoy, the man her father so despised. Ginny could hardly blame him.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Lucius. "All those raids... I hope they're paying you overtime?"

He then reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amid the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.

"Obviously not," he said examining the book. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"

Arthur flushed a deeper shade of red than either Ron or Ginny.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," he said with a strained edge to his voice.

"Clearly," said Mr. Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who were watching apprehensively. "The company you keep, Weasley ... and I thought your family could sink no lower-"

Ginny felt her cauldron; fly out of her hands as Arthur threw himself at Mr. Malfoy, knocking him backwards into a bookshelf. Dozens of heavy spellbooks came thundering down on all their heads; there was a yell of, "Get him, Dad!" from Fred or George; Ginny could hear her mother shrieking, "No, Arthur, no!" the crowd stampeded backward, knocking more shelves over; "Gentlemen, please - please!" cried the assistant, and then, louder than all "Break it up, there, gents, break it up -"

Hagrid was wading towards them through the sea of books. In an instant he had pulled her dad and Mr. Malfoy apart. Ginny stood at her corner, too stunned by her father's reaction. She had never seen him losing his head, except maybe once at Fred and George.

Mr. Malfoy who was still holding Ginny's old Transfiguration book, thrust it at her, his eyes glittering with malice.

"Here, girl - take your book - it's the best your father can give you -" Pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip he beckoned his son and swept from the shop. "Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur," said Hagrid, almost lifting Arthur off his feet as he straightened his robes. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that - no Malfoy's worth listenin' ter - bad blood, that's what it is - come on now - let's get outta here."

Ginny was once again dragged out from the store by a furious Molly. The Grangers were shaking with fright and Molly was beside herself with fury.

"A fine example to set for your children . . . brawling in public . . . what Gilderoy Lockhart must've thought -"

"He was pleased," offered Fred. "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the Daily Prophet if he'd be able to work the fight into his report - said it was all publicity-". Ginny had a feeling that the twins were trying to get in his good books, she couldn't however rule out the possibility that Fred and George were simply being supportive.

They said good-bye to the Grangers, who were leaving the pub for the muggle street on the other side; Arthur seemed interested in discussing about how bus stops worked, but stopped quickly at the look on Molly's face. He probably didn't want an extra hour of lecturing from his wife.

Later that night, Ginny was lying on her bed, going through her purchases. Molly had refused to let her keep her wand. She was tired but was too excited to sleep. She couldn't wait for the school to begin. Deciding to go through her books, she reached out and picked up a book from the table.

It was a small thin book with a black leather cover. Ginny realized at once that it was a diary, and the faded year on the cover told her it was fifty years old. She didn't remember buying it and she was sure that it wasn't Harry's. Harry had simply dropped a brand new set of book into her cauldron. They were still wrapped in the brown paper. Was it her mother? She knew that her mother had a habit of keeping dairies. Did she want me to keep a diary from my first year? Must be, she decided and opened it eagerly. On the first page she could just make out the name "T. M. Riddle" in smudged ink. This got her more curious, was it someone's old diary that she had come to take possession of. She turned to the next page. It was blank. She quickly ruffled through the book and found it empty. Not a single page was written in…

She couldn't bring herself to start writing in the diary. She then decided that she would start writing in it from her first day at school. Putting the diary back on the table, Ginny slowly drifted off into sleep…

**END OF CHAPTER**

**AN: I have a sincere request for everyone who has added this work of mine as your favorite or on your alerts. Please, please leave me a review, no matter how short it is... It means a lot to me, you would already know how much it means, if you are a writer. So please do leave reviews, I don't mind bad reviews as long as they constructive….**


	7. A Home Away From Home

**AN: My many THANKS to everyone who reviewed! I am grateful to each and every one of you…. Lately lack of reviews has been putting me off a little. I am obsessed with reviews I suppose, I keep re-reading them every 20 minutes so Please, please do continue to review my work;**

**This AN is slightly longer than my usual ANs but then again this chapter is the longest I have written so far.**

**Here are a few things you need to know. This chapter again has many scenes taken directly from the book. You may know by now that I don't want to miss out on any of the scenes involving Ginny, especially important ones such as the ones I have written about in this chapter. Unfortunately though, I do not see some of the scenes, happening any differently from what you may have read already in the actual cannon.**

**I have tried my best to make it Ginny's POV while keeping the storyline parallel with Cannon's storyline. To be honest with you, it quite difficult to write while staying true to cannon, I have been referring the books every few sentences to see if I am straying from the storyline. No complains though, this work is my tribute to the character named 'Ginny Weasley'… I simply hope I can justify it.**

**I wanted to concentrate on Ginny's interaction with the Diary as soon as I can and so I decided to stuff the train journey and sorting into one chapter, but as I started writing, it went on and on.**

**Secondly about the names that I have used, I know it was a little cheeky, please forgive me if they sound funny. I honestly was stumped when I had to come up with names...Any suggestions you have are welcome. I will replace the funny sounding names, if I like the ones you come up with.**

**I have no intentions to market my work, so anyone who feels that I borrow too many scenes or dialogues directly from the book. Please note that I intend no disrespect or infringement on the works of J.K. Rowling.**

**I also need to make a special mention of GinervaMarieChaseEverdeen who has edited this work for grammar and other discrepancies. She never ceases to amaze me. **

**DISCLAIMER: I would be a fool to assume that I own any of the characters or the HP world. I would only claim the effort I put into writing this story as my own.**

_**Chapter 7: A Home Away From Home.**_

As August came to a close, Ginny was a little upset; she didn't want the month to end. Harry's presence often forced her to stay hidden in her room, but it was something she would gladly do if it meant that he would remain close. Having him stay with her family meant she had more chances of making her dream come true…It was something she had hoped ever since she was a small child.

Ginny really was looking forward to her first year at Hogwarts, but she was torn. This month had been the happiest of her life and she simply didn't want it to end. Watching her hero, Harry run around with her brothers, watching him laugh, watching him joke made her happy. Spying on Harry through her window had become her latest hobby. The fact that Harry was a Quidditch enthusiast, like her, made her even happier.

Although, it was true, she hadn't quite managed to speak anything in his presence yet, except maybe for her feeble attempt at Diagon Alley. But that, however, had backfired badly. She even found herself becoming jealous of Ron when she thought of the great Harry Potter being friends with him.

On their last evening, Molly conjured up a scrumptious dinner that included all of Harry's favorite things. The treacle tart nearly had his mouth watering. Ginny was already aware of his weakness for the pudding. She had, after all, made it her business to know everything about him.

Fred and George rounded off the evening with a display of Filibuster fireworks. They filled the kitchen with red and blue stars that bounced from ceiling to wall for at least half an hour. It drove their mother mad, "FRED, GEORGE!" she yelled. "For Merlin's sake, when will you grow up? This is the kitchen."

Ginny wasn't her usual self at the table. She couldn't be when Harry was around. But it didn't stop her from grinning happily at the events that unfolded before her eyes. Fred and George's usual jokes combined with a few stolen glances at Harry made her happier than she could ever remember being in a long time. It was soon time for a one last mug of hot chocolate and bed.

The next morning, Ginny was already awake when Molly came in to wake her up. She was even packed and ready to go; the only thing that remained was her wand.

She was just about to remind her mother when Molly handed her the wand, "Now, Ginny, be careful!" she warned, "don't try any spells…Wait till they teach you properly."

Ginny who was too busy, admiring her wand, did not answer.

"Are you even listening to me?" asked Molly, sounding irritated.

Ginny was still gazing at her wand and waving it around in various patterns casting spells in her head, dreaming of her powers she would soon have.

"GINNY!"

"Okay, mum" Ginny answered exasperated.

"Don't you use that tone with me, young lady," said Molly, sternly, planting her hands on her hips. She was already was in a bad mood and seemed ready to explode when Percy walked in complaining that he couldn't find his new quill and spare socks.

"Those boys are in so much trouble…" Molly muttered, referring to Fred and George, as she dashed out looking for them.

Ginny was in on the prank, yet she remained silent. She knew where the twins had hidden these things. Watching Percy chase the twins was great fun and she didn't want to spoil it.

A while later Ginny was outside, waiting beside their car, when her father walked down carrying her trunk. It all happened in a second; she saw it as if it were all happening in slow motion, Arthur tripped over a stray chicken and fell down on the ground. He had just narrowly avoided the signboard. A couple of inches to his right and he would have broken his neck on the sign declaring their home to be The Burrow.

On seeing this, Molly came running, "Arthur, are you alright?"

"I am okay, dear," said Arthur getting up. Molly started dusting him but he simply lifted the picked up the trunk and continued toward the car. "Molly...I am fine…Go get the boys…we need to start now if we are going to arrive early at the station."

Ginny meanwhile, was having a mental debate. She was trying to decide where to sit in the car. She wanted to make sure she wasn't going to sit by Harry because no matter how much she would like to, it would also be a form of torture since she had yet to say more than a few words to him.

Unfortunately for her, or really fortunately depending on how she considered it, Molly made that decision for her."Harry, will you sit in the back seat with the boys? It may be a tight squeeze though." Turning towards Ginny, Molly added, "You can join me in the front, Ginny."

When at last they were all in the car, Molly glanced into the back seat, where Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy were all sitting comfortably side by side, and said, "Muggles do know more than we give them credit for, don't they?"

Ginny who had never seen a muggle car before, had simply assumed that it was normal.

"I mean, you'd never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?" Molly continued.

On second thought, her mother's observation seemed to have a ring of truth to them. She turned to look at her father. His shifty demeanor was enough for Ginny; she could tell that her father had tampered with the design. But before she opened her mouth to speak, Arthur placed one finger over his lips and pleaded with his eyes, asking her to keep it a secret.

Ginny smiled, turning instead to look at the rear view mirror. She could see the top of four redheads and an untidy mess of black hair.

Arthur started up the engine and they pulled out of the yard. The Burrow was barely out of sight when they had to turn around and head back. George had forgotten his box of Filibuster fireworks. Five minutes after that, they skidded to a halt in the yard again so that Fred could run in for his broomstick.

For the third time that day, the Ford Anglia headed out from the Burrow. Ginny was wondering how the dorms at Hogwarts would be? Would she meet any new friends on the train? What house would she be in? She fervently hoped it would be Gryffindor, but she supposed Ravenclaw would be alright as well. It was all so exciting…This was the beginning of a whole new experience for her, away from the Burrow, away from home. She knew she would remember this day for quite a long time. Suddenly an image of a diary flashed across her mind.

They had almost reached the highway when she shrieked, "Oh no! My Diary"

She hadn't packed her diary. In an attempt to keep it safe from the twins, she had hidden it under her bed and had completely forgotten about it until then. She had to get it.

"What diary?" Arthur asked.

"From when did you start writing a diary, Gin-Gin?" Fred asked at the same time, raising an eyebrow.

"Ever since the green eyed boy arrived," George answered even before Ginny could open her mouth to respond. Harry, too busy laughing silently with Ron at the fact that they had to go back… again, didn't hear Fred's comment.

Ginny blushed deep red as she muttered, "Dad, I want my diary, please turn around."

Molly, was lost in her thoughts, she didn't join the conversation as Arthur turned the car around. Sending her children away was something she hated. But even she couldn't deny that ten months without the twins under her roof was nothing short of a blessing in disguise. She loved them, but at times, they really were almost more than she could handle.

By the time Ginny had clambered back into the car, they were running very late, and tempers were running high

.

Arthur glanced at his watch and then at his wife."Molly, dear -" he said reaching towards a little button.

"No, Arthur -" said Molly a little too sharply.

He had foolishly tried to impress Molly the previous night, boasting about the magical modifications he had done on the car. He had even tried to use the fact that the boys returned safely from their journey to his advantage. Molly turned livid on hearing this and didn't stop her rant long into the night. She had only stopped after Arthur promised not to use any of the magical additions.

"No one would see - this little button here is an Invisibility Booster I installed - that'd get us up in the air - then we fly above the clouds. We'd be there in ten minutes and no one would be any the wiser -" Arthur said, trying desperately to convince his wife.

"I said no, Arthur, not in broad daylight -"

They continued to argue as they reached King's Cross at a quarter to eleven. Arthur parked the car and immediately dashed across the road to get trolleys for their trunks.

Ginny had crossed the magical barrier many times before, but it was different this time. This time, she would be boarding the Hogwarts Express.

She wanted to stop for a moment and enjoy that feeling of freedom, freedom from her mother's rules. But she couldn't, they were already running late today.

"Percy first," said Molly, looking nervously at the clock overhead, which showed they had only five minutes to disappear casually through the barrier.

Percy strode briskly forward and vanished. Arthur went next; Fred and George followed.

"I'll take Ginny and you two come right after us," Molly ordered Ron and Harry, grabbing Ginny's hand and setting off. Ginny turned to look at Harry as she passed through the barrier.

She was used to getting onto platform nine and three-quarters by now, it was a simple matter of walking straight through the apparently solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten. She could still feel the exposed portion of her skin tingle as she passed the barrier. It was the first time it happened to her, she wondered if it was her excitement coming through.

As platform nine and three-quarters materialized in front of them, The Hogwarts Express, a gleaming scarlet steam engine, was already there, clouds of steam billowing from it. Ginny had often wondered where the engine was stored when not in use. Did it have a separate station near Hogwarts?

Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. The hoots of owls filled the air. All the carriages were already packed with students, and some were hanging out of the windows to talk to their families. Some were fighting over seats as they rushed onto the train.

Ginny held on to her mother's hand as they made their way through the crowd, looking for a car that still had room.

"Prefect's compartment is towards the front." Percy announced giving Molly a customary hug, he added, "Well, bye mum, I will write as soon as I can, and don't worry about Ginny, I will take care of her." He strode off towards the front after giving a similar hug to his father.

Ginny turned to look for Harry among the crowd, but she couldn't find him, she then asked, "Where's Ron?"

"Hmm…I didn't see them…they must have already got on the train," Molly said turning to look towards the barrier. "He didn't even say good-bye…" she added sounding a little disappointed.

The twins were already on the train and were helping their father load Ginny's trunk onto it as a whistle sounded somewhere and the train began to move.

"Arthur, the trains moving…hurry...Ginny get onto the train fast." Molly nearly yelled lifting Ginny on to the train. "Fred, George, look after Ginny and behave yourselves," she called after them as the train picked up speed.

Ginny saw her mother waving them off until the train rounded the corner. Houses and fields flashed past the window. Ginny felt a great leap of excitement. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she still wondered where Harry was as she searched for a compartment.

"Will you be okay on your own?" Fred asked waving at the some dark skinned boy, with dread locks. Ginny had seen him at Diagon Alley.

"I will be fine, go on," Ginny told her brother.

"Well in that case, let us get this trunk for you."

The twins carried her trunk into adjoining compartment which was already occupied by two small girls, who looked to be first years themselves.

"Would you mind if our sister were to join you in this compartment?" George asked politely, but the tone in which he spoke suggested that he wouldn't want to hear no for an answer.

The girl beside the window looked up. She had straggly, waist length, dirty blonde hair, very pale eyebrows, and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look. To add to this, she had stuck her wand behind her left ear and was a wearing a necklace made of Butterbeer corks. Her eyes scanned over the twins and came to rest on Ginny. She shook her head.

The twins stowed the trunk in the luggage rack and left calling over the shoulders, "We will come back later to check on you."

"Hi, I'm Luna Lovegood," the girl said with a vacant smile on her face.

Ginny had heard the name somewhere, she couldn't remember where she had heard it as she replied, "Hi, I am Ginny…Err…actually its Ginevra Weasley…but you can call me Ginny."

"Hi Ginny!" she said grinning. "This is Stella McAllen," said Luna nodding at the other girl.

Stella was a beauty in the making. She had dark glossy eyes and an extravaganza of soft curly black hair. A small dimple formed on her pinkish cheeks as she smiled nervously at Ginny and greeted her."Hi, Ginny."

Ginny smiled back as she sat down. A few moments passed in silence, none of them knew what to say. Luna, on the other hand was staring at Ginny's hair. It seemed unnatural for a normal human being to stare for so long without blinking. It made her quite uncomfortable.

"I have heard the name Lovegood somewhere. It sounds familiar," said Ginny, attempting to break the awkward silence. "Do you know the Weasleys by any chance, Luna?"

She didn't respond immediately. After what seemed to be an eternity she spoke. "Yes we live very close to your place. Our house is on the other side of the hill near the village of Ottery St. Catchpole," she said in a dreamy voice.

Ginny could now remember her father mentioning the Lovegoods. A few months ago, her father had returned from work quoting an article from some magazine Mr. Lovegood was the editor of, about Arthur being a ministry appointed burglar of some sorts who looted innocent families of their ancient artifacts. He had laughed his head off while reading it aloud to Molly.

"Err…Squibbler" Ginny started, but was cut off.

"No! It's called the 'The Quibbler', one of the most informative and truthful wizarding magazines of our times, my father's the editor." Luna reeled off proudly.

"Do either of you know what house you will be in?" asked Stella, trying to steer them away from the topic as noticed that Ginny was trying hard not to laugh.

From what Ginny had heard from her father that day, it was quite the opposite. In-fact Arthur had read out a few funny articles for her amusement. She took a moment to rearrange her expression before turning to Stella.

"Gryffindor," said Ginny firmly inwardly thinking of Harry. "My whole family was in Gryffindor. I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be one too…What about you Luna?"

"_Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure,"_said Luna in a sing song voice. "_In Ravenclaw I will find my second home._" She trailed off, closing her eyes, waving an imaginary baton as she pretended to conduct a band.

Ginny and Stella looked at each other with their eyebrows raised.

"So which house do you want to be in?" Ginny asked again this time to Stella.

"Hmm…I have never really thought about it. You see, Mum's a muggle and Dad never really spoke about his schooling much," said Stella. Gloom seemed to settle on her.

"Maybe you can be a Gryffindor like me," said Ginny trying to cheer her up. "And Ravenclaw sounds nice too," she added trying to placate Luna.

Soon Ginny was off explaining all about the Hogwarts houses and their founders. She described the qualities each valued and everything she could remember about them. Out of curiousness, she had, quite uncharacteristically, done a little background reading about Hogwarts. Fred and George had tried to scare her off. They had tried to convince her that there would be a dangerous test and all. But Ginny knew otherwise.

While she was explaining, the train had carried them out of London. Now it was speeding past fields full of cows and sheep, the fields and lanes flew past.

Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Ginny and Luna remained in their seats. Ginny smiled at witch, "No thank you. I'm good."

Luna meanwhile had produced 'The Quibbler' out of her bag and was reading it upside down, she didn't look up.

She was watching Luna with a slightly open mouth as Stella got to her feet and went out into the corridor. Ginny had just noticed that the magazine was upside down. Although, she figured it wasn't a good idea to comment on it now, she thought, especially not after the argument. She wondered how long it would take to get used to this odd behavior. Ginny could tell, Luna was a good person, but it would take some getting used to.

Stella had come back now with a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and a few of cauldron cakes, which she shared with the other two. They spent the next few hours testing the Every Flavor Beans, laughing and making faces every now and then, whenever they tasted something nasty. The train rattled on, the countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields were gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.

Ginny had just spit out a grass flavored bean when the compartment door slid open again, and a bushy haired girl panted, "Hi Ginny… did you see your brother?"

It was Hermione. "What?" asked Ginny looking up.

"Your brother Ron, Ginny, he isn't on the train. I have been looking for him and Harry ever since we left the station."

"Are you sure? He was with Harry when I last saw him," said Ginny sounding worried.

"I couldn't find him either," said Hermione sitting down on a vacant seat.

"You know HARRY POTTER!" said Stella enviously.

Both Hermione and Ginny turned to glare at her, effectively shutting her up.

"Sorry." Stella muttered. Ginny simply ignored it. Though she was concerned about her Harry, the fact that Ron was missing affected her more. He was her closest brother to her age, her playmate until a year ago.

"Well, let me go and see if I can find them," said Hermione. "Don't worry…If I can't see find, it doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't on the train," she added, looking as though she had realized something. She left closing the compartment door.

Ginny was confused. She wondered what Hermione meant by that. Wasn't she supposed to be the most intelligent witch in Ron's year? Yet here she was making dumb statements, she thought.

"Don't worry Ginny, they will be fine," said Stella, interrupting Ginny's line of thoughts just as a voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train. It will be taken to the school separately."

Ginny's stomach lurched with nerves as she got up to change into school robes. Luna and Stella were already putting on theirs.

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. Together the three of them pushed their way towards the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform.

It was a cold night; the only available light came from the moon. Ginny looked around, not knowing what to do. Fred and George had promised to come, but they were no were to be seen. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students outlining a large silhouette. It was Hagrid, she heard him call out, "firs' years! Join me over here!"

Hagrid's big hairy face was smiling at them, but the light from the lamp gave him a scary look. Stella who was seeing Hagrid for the first time turned white in fear.

"It's ok, I know him, and he's a nice person." Ginny assured her, "and he certainly won't eat you or anything." Hearing this, the little color that had returned to Stella's face vanished again.

"I think he was bitten by an Elemosqin," said Luna in the closest thing to a matter-of-fact voice. "That explains the abnormal growth."

"What's an Elemo…" Stella started but was cut off as Hagrid called, "C'mon, follow me – Ye'all can talk later! Now, all firs' years! Follow me!"

The three of them turned and followed him. Slipping and stumbling, along what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was very dark and Ginny could hardly see her legs. Stella was holding on to Ginny's hands looking scared. They silently followed Hagrid and the other students. None of the other students seemed to be making any noise either, except for Luna, who for some reason seemed to be enjoying herself. She was skipping and occasionally pointing at the stars, describing various shapes excitedly. Ginny concentrated on the path ahead, not bothering to look up.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

While someone complained in a small squeaky voice, "Why's my camera not working?"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. It put all Ginny's thoughts of what Hogwarts would look like to shame.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Ginny, Stella and Luna hesitated and so they were the last ones to get into a boat.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then -FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent including Luna. But while everyone was staring up at the great castle overhead, she was staring instead at surface of the water, "Look at the reflection! It's so beautiful!"

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock, following after Hagrid's lantern, coming out, at last, onto smoothly cut, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here?" Hagrid asked before raising a gigantic fist and knocking three times on the castle door.

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and her hair was tied up in a bun. Though considerably old, she had a distinct aura around her. Ginny could tell that she was very strict. And from what her twin brothers had described, she assumed that this must be Head of the Gryffindor house; she had often heard them complaining about her.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide, allowing them into a huge entrance hall. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

"Wow!" she heard Stella and Luna whisper beside her. So Luna isn't completely crazy after all, she thought.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. They could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right -the rest of the school must already be here - but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony, while you are here, your house will be your family within Hogwarts. That doesn't mean the other houses are your enemies. It's just that you will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. Now for those of you who do not know about the houses, there are four of them are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you house points, while any rule-breaking will result in loss of house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."

With every sentence she spoke, it was becoming more and more clear to Ginny that she wasn't someone to cross.

Professor McGonagall continued, "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up,"she said, glancing at a small boy with blond hair sticking up in the back and one shoulder of his robes falling off.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." She turned and left the chamber.

"She's a little scary, don't you think?" Stella asked.

"I guess so," replied Ginny not really thinking. She was still not sure about how the sorting was done. The background reading she had done, had not mentioned anything about the sorting. All she knew was that it had something to do with a hat.

"I hope we are put in the same house. At least I would have someone I know," said Stella looking around nervously.

"Isn't it obvious? They will test us to see where we belong," said Luna. "Dad's a Hufflepuff, but I want to be a Ravenclaw like my mum."

"Hufflepuff, more likely, that's where they put weirdos like you," commented a dark skinny boy who was standing behind them. Ginny and Stella turned to glare at him but Luna somehow didn't seem to have heard him.

"Dad always says that I remind him a lot of her," said Luna, betraying no emotion on her face.

"Everyone, form a line, the Sorting Ceremony's about to start," said a sharp voice. Professor McGonagall had returned.

Ginny got into line behind Stella, with Luna behind her, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Ginny had never been to such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting all clad in black robes with pointy wizard hats adorning their heads. The tables were laden with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver.

Ginny tried to spot her brothers among the crowd. While she could account for Percy, Fred, and George, Ron was still missing and even more conspicuous was Harry's absence. She wasn't really thinking of Harry but somehow her mind had zeroed in on his absence. Her own nervousness added with her brother's and Harry's absence disturbed her. She looked around trying the avoid looking at her other brothers. Percy, the ever pompous prat, was pointing at her and saying, "That's my little sister over there, Hope she makes a Gryffindor like me!"

She sighed as she looked up and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens. Ginny was used to household magic, but this, here at Hogwarts, was magic at its most magnificent.

When she looked down again, Professor McGonagall had placed a four-legged stool in front of them and on top of it was a an extremely old looking pointed hat. It was patched and frayed at several places, Ginny wondered whether if it belonged to any of the original founders of Hogwarts. It looked at least a few hundred years old and could very well be theirs, she thought.

As Ginny dwelled on her thoughts, she noticed the hat twitch. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth suddenly and it began to sing in a deep voice:

"Oh, you may think I'm ugly,

For I am a little wrinkly;

But let me ask you just one thing,

Why judge me so quickly,

When you know nothing.

While I may look old and patched,

But that's all you choose to see.

While you keep your bowlers black,

And your top hats sleek and tall,

You have nothing on me

For I am smarter and wiser than all

Burn me now if am lying.

How can I not be smart?

For I'm the one and only

Hogwarts Sorting Hat.

Theres nothing hidden from me

Your head's just another book.

And I know where to look,

So don't hesitate, just try me on

And I will tell you where you belong.

You might be a Gryffindor,

Where dwells the bravest at heart,

Bold and fearless they will ever be;

Else you might be a Hufflepuff,

Who are just and loyal,

Where patience is not a virtue lost on them;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

Who are witty and smarter than most,

Where learning is something they value most,

Or perhaps a Slytherin

Where dwells the most cunning of them all,

Where ambitions often stand taller than means

So go right ahead! Put me on!

There's no need to fear!

For you're in safe hands

Though I have none

I'm just a Thinking Cap!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"Try on a hat… Is that all?" Stella said sounding relieved. "That shouldn't be tough."

Ginny who was still worried about her brother's disappearance, did not respond. The idea of a thinking cap did calm her nerves a little, it wasn't as hard as Fred and George made it out to be. She knew better than to believe the twin's stories about fighting trolls, but a small part of her did believe that they had to get through some actual test involving the hat.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat, and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said.

"Andrews, Melwyn!"

A scrawny looking guy with tall build walked up to the stool, put on the hat, and sat down. After a moment's pause-"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. And the table on the far left exploded with cheers as Melwyn went to sit down at the Gryffindor table.

"Bennet, Cody!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat, and this time the table on the right cheered and clapped as Cody went and joined them at the table.

"Creevey, Colin!" A short boy with curly blond hair nervously stepped forward.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat, making Colin the second Gryffindor of the night. He went and joined Melwyn and the others at the table.

A few names later, "Knight, Nick!", became the first Ravenclaw. The table second from the left clapped this time

"Lovegood, Luna!" called Professor McGonagall.

Luna walked up to the stool, looking unnaturally calm. She took the hat tenderly, smiled and to everyone's amusement asked, "Hello sir, you seem to have a lemnaur infestation on you, do you mind if I collect a few specimens." The great hall exploded in laughter but it didn't seem to bother Luna as she continued, "my dad had been looking them for a long time." Professor McGonagall didn't seem amused. She simply grabbed the hat and placed it on Luna's head.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat shouted, after a long time, Ginny couldn't help but wonder if the cap itself was confused with what it found in Luna's head.

The second left table clapped again, this time however it was clear from their expressions that Luna would have a hard time making friends.

Ginny snapped out of her thoughts as, "McAllen, Stella!" was called.

Stella was a bag of nerves as she stepped forward. A few moments later, the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" and she went and joined the Gryffindor table, smiling at Ginny as she passed.

Jacob Matthews became a Ravenclaw.

"Peters, Jenson!"

The boy, who had commented on Luna earlier, became a Slytherin. She could see why her brothers hated the Slytherins; there was something unpleasant about them. Most of them looked like they were the much nastier versions of Percy.

Sometimes the hat made its decision at once, but at times it took more than a minute to decide.

Florence Evergreen was sorted into Hufflepuff, and Clinton Wade was sorted into Slytherin

Many names followed, but Ginny couldn't keep up, looking at the others being sorted, seemed to make her more and more nervous. There were only a few names left-

"Smith, Elena!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Vane, Romilda!" a bold-looking girl with large dark eyes, a prominent chin, and long black hair was sorted into Gryffindor**,**

Ginny could see the twins catcalling.

"Weasley, Ginevra!" McGonagall called, startling Ginny.

She had never hated her name more, she could hear laughter, or was she just imagining, she wondered as she stepped forward.

She heard someone say, "Another Weasley! How many more are there?"

As Ginny put on the hat, her vision went blank. It was only then she realized that the hat had gone all the way down, covering her eyes. In-fact, it was so large, it had even covered her nose.

She wondered what was happening. Was the hat reading her mind? What all would it read, would it read about Harry, she mused."Hmm," said a small voice in her ear. "Secretive…but not for personal gain… Fiercely loyal… courageous too…not bad, not bad at all…You would do well in both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor."

Ginny gripped the edges of the stool, her thoughts were all jumbled. She could see images of Harry running around in the garden then the scene at Flourish and Blotts played out.

"Interesting!" said the small voice. "Ok then, let's just keep the Weasley tradition alive, you better be- GRYFFINDOR!"

Ginny heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. She took it off and walked towards Stella. Percy got up from his seat and walked up to Ginny, "I knew you would be Gryffindor." He announced, trying to make sure that everyone in the near vicinity heard him. Fred and George were exchanging something which looked a lot like silver sickles. George had a rather smug look on his face, confirmed Ginny's suspicions; they had placed a bet on her. If she didn't know her brothers so well, she would have been a little hurt that Fred didn't think she would make Gryffindor. But, Ginny knew that the twins liked to bet on everything and didn't complain.

Just as Ginny turned to Stella, She heard someone say, "Did you hear about Potter and that Weasley?"

Ginny froze; Stella looked over Ginny's shoulders curiously.

"What has Potter managed to do this time?" a second male voice asked.

"Well, from what I heard, he's crashed a flying car into the Whomping Willow"

"That's awesome!" declared Fred, as the twins joined the conversation.

"THEY WILL BE EXPELLED…YOU IDIOTS" said an angry looking Hermione, seeming to appear out of nowhere "What else do you know? And who told you all this," she demanded. The twins simply stared open-mouth at her.

"I met Filch on my way to…well...let's just say I heard Filch say so when I passed him on the corridor." The first voice replied. Hermione didn't wait any further; she got up from the table and left in a hurry.

Ginny was still frozen in her seat, she wondered what Hermione was doing and what was going to happen; her elder brothers somehow didn't seem to be that concerned. Would they really expel Ron, not to mention Harry…whom she wanted to spend her life with…? What am I thinking…I am just eleven years old, she chided herself... The Sorting was over and the stool had been removed. As Ginny turned to look at the High table, Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there. He looked like he truly belonged there, in front of the school. She knew that her parents respected him greatly.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! I know you are hungry, so let me not keep you waiting with a long winded speech…. Let the banquet begin"

Albus Dumbledore had just taken his seat, when Professor McGonagall bent over and said something in his ear. The headmaster silently got up and followed her out of the hall.

Ginny had always been a great admirer of Albus Dumbledore as well. As a kid she had often compared his powers with that Harry Potters, often playfully arguing with Bill that Harry was only a baby when he defeated the greatest dark wizard so of course he would win a duel between the two.

The dishes in front of her were immediately piled up with food. She had never seen so many things on one table, and that was saying something if you lived with her mother, she thought. Roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, every good food you could imagine, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs…

She forgot all about her worries, her possibly soon-to-expelled brother, and everything else as she loaded her plate with food. Stella meanwhile seemed too busy to eat. She was staring incredulously at Nearly Headless Nick who was demonstrating his severed neck to some fellow first years.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**AN: I have a sincere request for everyone who has added this work of mine as your favorite or on your alerts. Please, please leave me a review, I don't mind if it's short, I don't mind bad reviews either as long as they constructive….**

**A small heads up, Tom Riddle's diary will play a major role in the next chapter.**


	8. Tom Riddle's Diary

**N: My many THANKS to everyone who reviewed! I am grateful to each and every one of you…. Lack of reviews still upsets me...Please see to it that you leave a honest comment if you happen read my work.**

**I am sorry about the long delay. I had a crazy month which started with mum's operation and then ended with me breaking my right arm. I would be slow in uploading the next chapter since I am busy until Jan 13thwith my BE exams being just around the corner.**

**My many thanks to Inthikhabalam and Gotimtim for their constant encouragements which prompted me to upload sooner than I intended.**

**I have no intentions to market my work, so anyone who feels that I borrow too many scenes or dialogues directly from the book. Please note that I intend no disrespect or infringement on the works of J.K. Rowling.**

**I also need to make a special mention of GinervaMarieChaseEverdeen who would be editing this work for grammar and other discrepancies. She never ceases to amaze me.**

**Romilda Vane is a year younger than Ginny and it was brought to my attention recently. I am sorry for that. But since she is already incorporated into the story i wouldn't be able to do anything about it now. I will see what can be done once i am a little less burdened...**

**DISCLAIMER: I would be a fool to assume that I own any of the characters or the HP world. I would only claim the effort I put into writing this story as my own.**

_**Chapter 8: Tom Riddle's Diary.**_

Dumbledore had returned to the table after a few minutes, followed closely by McGonagall and a greasy haired, hook nosed professor in black billowing robes, whom Ginny instantly disliked for some unexplained reason.

There was still no news about Ron or Harry, but seeing as the Headmaster was back at the table, Ginny tried to reassure herself. After all, it may have all been just a rumor. Their continued absence however did affect her. She could hardly open her mouth to sing when Dumbledore conducted the school song. As they ate, Ginny continued to fret.

She came out of her reverie only when she heard Percy.

"First years, gather here!" She heard Percy announce as he puffed up his chest as though his prefects badge wasn't visible enough. "Ginny Weasley, you are no exception."

"Hmmpf! Coming…Just a sec," Ginny replied, she knew her brother only too well, to be hurt by being addressed by her full name. At least he didn't address her as Ginerva Weasley, which was a plus.

Stella, meanwhile, was staring at Percy, occasionally stopping to glance at Ginny before turning her attention back to Percy.

"Come on; move along, he's one of my six brothers. Biggest prat among them all if you ask me… but Mum seems to think he's a genius."

Pulling Stella by her arm, she lined up at the very back of the group of Gryffindor first years.

"Everyone here?" Percy asked. A few of the boys nodded. The small boy with curly hair, whom Ginny recalled to be Colin, seemed distracted though. It looked as though there was something wrong with his camera. "I'm Percy Weasley and this is Beatrice Miller." Percy continued pointing at a plain-looking brunette girl, who simply smiled at the introduction. "We are the Gryffindor house prefects and we will be showing you the way to our common room today. Do not stray from the group, if anyone does, you will start your first day at Hogwarts by writing lines for me."

Ginny couldn't help but snicker at the thought of Percy trying to give such orders to the twins. She stopped when she caught Percy glaring at her.

Soon Percy turned and set off. The group followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. The people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases. After they last of the group stepped off of one flight of stairs, it began to move. It was amazing how the castle seemed to have a mind of its own, changing its layout whenever it pleased. He then led them along a long new corridor. Ginny was just starting to wonder how much further it was when they came to halt in front of a large portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she asked.

"Sophor maticulous," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it - and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

Percy left after pointing the doors to their dormitories and giving out a few \rules that ought to be maintained within the dormitories. However, Ginny had a feeling that, especially in the eyes of Fred and George, these were more like suggestions. A part of Ginny wanted to explore her dormitory, but a greater part of her craved to know the whereabouts of Harry and Ron. To make sure they were alright. She looked around trying to find them. But she couldn't see them anywhere in the common room, She couldn't find Hermione either. All she saw was a mass of unfamiliar people all dressed in black robes just like hers. The people that were to become like her family while at school. A few words of conversations stood out to Ginny as she looked around the common room.

"Harry….Weasley…Ford Anglia… smashed…WHOMPING WILLOW!" Ginny heard someone say.

She turned in their direction hoping to hear more as Stella asked, "So it's true! Your Harry did smash into that Willow tree."

'Your Harry…' … 'Your Harry'…That was the only part that registered in Ginny's brain. Could it be true, she wondered…Would the great Harry Potter ever truly be hers? Slowly she turned to look at Stella who seemed to be smiling.

"You're blushing!" Stella teased.

"No, I'm not!" Ginny said trying and failing to make her cheeks return to their normal color.

"Yes you are…Oooh…Looks like someone here has a crush on Harry Potter," Stella continued.

Ginny's face reddened further, and she couldn't stop herself from blushing. She looked at the ground, trying to hide her face behind her hair, but Stella continued to tease her good naturedly, while poking her lightly in the ribs. Ginny was saved from further embarrassment when they heard someone yell.

"THERE HE IS!"

Both of them turned to look at the entrance as a sudden storm of clapping broke out in the common room. Ginny, who until now was too distracted to notice anything, started taking in the details of the common room, and she wondered if the room was always this crowded. It seemed like none of the Gryffindors had gone to their dormitories yet. There were students everywhere, standing in various groups. But everyone's attention seemed to be focused on one person, the one person who meant the world to her. It was good to see that both Harry and Ron were alright, though noticeably embarrassed. Even so, they both sported sheepish grins as people congratulated them for something.

"Brilliant!" she heard Lee Jordan yell. "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that one for years -"

As exciting as their entrance sounded, Ginny knew that they were going to get it big time from Mum. She was glad they were alright, but as soon as Mum found out that they flew Dad's car, that wasn't even supposed to fly, Ron was dead and possibly Harry as well. How stupid could Ron be?

Ron had turned red when Fred and George complained about being left behind.

Ginny could also see Hermione standing beside them with a scowl on her face. It somehow reminded her of her mother.

For a few minutes she simply stared at Harry. She was glad to have an excuse to look at him. Harry suddenly looked in her direction and muttered something to Ron, who in turn looked in her direction.

And then all of a sudden, they both made a bee-line to the staircase leading to the boy's dormitories, disappearing up the stairs. Ginny realized only later that it was Percy who scared them away. She could see him trying to disperse the crowd.

She turned towards the girl's staircase, dragging Stella along with her. They had just reached the stairs, when a very annoyed Hermione passed them by, she did however force a smile on her face to greet Ginny.

"She seems nice," Stella commented. "Hmm '**your**' Harry Potter…he's seemed to be nice as well. What do you say Ginny?"

"Shut up, Stella" Ginny muttered, half happy, half annoyed.

"He needs to do something about his hair though…" Stella continued.

"NO!" Ginny said, before she could stop herself. It was something she had come to like in him. It set him apart from others. She had always secretly envisioned herself running her hands through it, curious to know how it felt like.

Stella looked at her with an amused expression on her face as they reached the door with a sign on it saying 'FIRST YEARS'.

"What?"

"Nothing, so Mr. Harry Potter is perfect. His hair is perfect annnnd he's taken," said Stella, laughing as she pushed opened the door into their dormitory.

Ginny followed her inside, they were obviously in one of the towers, and both found their beds at last: five four posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up.

"This is so cool! Your bed is next to mine, Ginny! Look," said Stella.

Ginny followed her gaze. It was true. Both their trunks were side by side. What made her even happier was the fact that her bed was right next to the window, one that had a clear view of the grounds.

As Ginny stood near the window, replaying her day, wondering how her first day of class would be. Stella changed into her pyjamas, got into her bed, muttered a goodnight and was soon asleep. Ginny was glad to have Stella as a friend. She was probably the first friend she ever had besides her brothers. It was nice.

Soon she was thinking about Harry, who was sleeping not too far from her. Admittedly there was a wall separating them, but she was a part of his extended family. She was a Gryffindor like him. She would get onto the Gryffindor team as well. Well at least as soon as possible, she thought.

She wondered how often she would get to see him in the common room. Her thoughts were still centered on Harry, when she decided to change into her pyjamas as well. Walking up to her trunk, she opened it and looked around for her favorite nightgown, a simple faded bottle green colored dress, which had been her favorite ever since the last summer. Her hands rubbed against something rough. It was her leather diary. She pulled it out.

It was the same diary which she had promised to write in every day starting on the first day of school. Though Ginny was tired and wanted to go to sleep badly, she decided against it for she wasn't sure if she could remember everything that happened today come tomorrow morning.

She carried it back to her bed, perched herself on the bed, and started to recollect the things she wanted to remember. A jumbled set of scenes played out in her head and she couldn't decide how best she could describe any of it. But being the person she was, she didn't like giving up. Forcing herself to start with something or the other she dipped her quill in ink and placed it on the first page. After a moment's pause she started, trying to get a little inventive as she wrote. Almost accidently, her fantasies about a certain boy with green eyes and a lightning scar being her prince charming came out.

_This diary belongs to the better half of the green eyed prince._

Ginny smiled as she read it again, it definitely sounded nice and no one would know it's hers even if she misplaced it somewhere. Not that she was planning to leave it lying around.

She was about to turn to the next page when something unexpected happened. The ink shone brightly on the paper, for a second and then, as though it was being sucked into the page, vanished.

Ginny was too shocked to do anything. She still wasn't able to explain what just happened when something happened again.

Oozing out of the page, in her very same ink, came new words. Ginny was scared out of her wits. She didn't want to read what it was much too freaked out. She banged it shut and threw it on the bedside table. Just then, Romilda Vane, the bold-looking girl whom the twin had catcalled for, walked in, accompanied by two other girls.

The other girls looked more like her minions. For a moment, Ginny wondered how she managed to become a ring leader so soon. Romilda, however, looked in her direction and with a faint bored smile introduced herself and the two others. Ginny was still in shock at what happened and responded with a faint smile herself, "Hello, I'm Ginny Weasley."

"So you chose the bed close to the window and decided to put our trunks at the other end without consulting us?" Romilda asked with a hint of threat.

Ginny wasn't going to take any bullying. She looked squarely at Romilda and said, "I didn't, it was already here when we got in."

Romilda looked offended. It seemed like Ginny had offended her by simply replying. She merely shrugged, "Hmmpf! Whatever…" and went on to her bed at the other end of the dormitory.

Ginny was still standing next to her bed, trying to make out what just happened. Was she dreaming? First the diary, now this Vane… Not a bad first day after all she thought sarcastically crashing on to her bed. Though tired, she couldn't sleep.

She was curious to know what was happening, did the diary write back to her. Or was she just imagining everything. She decided to check again. She took the diary from the table and ever so slowly opened it.

_Hello there, I am Tom Marvolo Riddle._

She was most likely dreaming, she thought…She pinched herself, and she could definitely feel the stinging pain, but the words did not fade away. It was still there, shining back at from the diary.

Was it a prank by Fred and George, she wondered. If it was, then it was dang good one. She was still skeptical as she gathered enough courage to write back.

_Hello Mr. Riddle, what are you?_

Ginny didn't know if it was rude to say so. But she was determined to get to the bottom of this mystery. If was Fred and George's doing, then Merlin help them, she thought.

Meanwhile her words had disappeared and were replaced with new shining words.

_I am a friend, designed to help people overcome loneliness._

She felt stupid asking the next question, but decided to ask anyway, after all it was just a book, she thought to herself.

_Who made you? Do you know Fred and George by any chance?_

Almost immediately the diary wrote back in reply.

_I am sorry to disappoint you, but I do not have an answer to your first question. As for this Fred and George…No I don't know them, who are they?_

Ginny wasn't sure what to make of the replies, a part of her felt that the diary or whatever it was, was genuine while another part of her felt it was prank by the twins.

She was still deliberating on what to do next, when she noticed the diary writing back again.

_If you don't mind, can I ask you something…_

So here's the punch line of the joke, Ginny thought as she wrote a reply

_Ask. What is it?_

_Was this diary a gift from your husband, Miss? And if am not mistaken, he is green eyed. Am I right?_

Ginny wasn't expecting that and it took her by surprise, but that didn't stop her from blushing, she didn't understand why she was blushing. It was just a diary after all. It couldn't even see her. Or could it...NO it couldn't, she decided. She didn't look old enough to look married. She was sure of that.

_No, I don't know who gave it to me, and I am not married, I am just a first year student at Hogwarts. By the way please call me Ginny. I prefer it that way._

It seemed as though the diary was too eager to write back, for words started appearing almost immediately as Ginny finished writing.

_Oh sorry! Your title confused me I guess. You can call me Tom and since I was designed to help loners at Hogwarts. I know all about it. Who's this greened eyed prince, Ginny?_

Ginny wasn't sure if she wanted to answer that question now. She decided that it wasn't a good choice to trust something so soon. She figured that she could wait and see how it panned out and then decide if she wants to divulge such details about her personal life.

_Sorry Tom, I can't tell you that. It's getting really late now, and I need to get some sleep. It's my first day at Hogwarts tomorrow. I will speak to you later. Bye Tom._

Ginny waited for a minute to check what Tom had replied.

_Goodnight Ginny. It was nice talking to you. And always remember…Don't trust anyone other than yourself…_

Ginny found this quite cryptic, but she couldn't give it much thought. She had to get some sleep before tomorrow's classes. She wasn't lying when she said that.

Putting the diary aside, she switched off the bedside lamp and was soon asleep, pleasantly dreaming _about a certain greened eyed princ__e._

**END OF CHAPTER**

**AN: I have a sincere request for everyone who has added this work of mine as your favorite or on your alerts. Please, please leave me a review, I don't mind if it's short, I don't mind bad reviews either as long as they constructive….**


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